By Jessica Lin

Fired up from musical television shows such as “Glee” and “Smash,” Hollywood has turned to its more theatrical counterpart to borrow several successful Broadway shows for adaptation.

First up is campy 80’s musical, “Rock of the Ages.” Though many musicals don’t translate well to a film medium, “Rock of Ages” seems like a highly possible exception. Boasting an impressive all-star cast, such as Alec Baldwin, Tom Cruise, Catherine Zeta Jones, and Mary J. Blige, a soundtrack full of popular feel-good rock songs and power ballads, and the flashing neon lights of 80’s staging, the movie looks like an event that shouldn’t be missed. “Rock of the Ages” is currently in theaters.

Then, as if moving from book to Broadway wasn’t enough, Victor Hugo’s “Les Miserables” is set to conquer yet another medium in Tom Hooper’s (“The King’s Speech”) movie adaptation. Much hype has already been raised for this film, though its release date lies in the distant, distant future otherwise known to inhabitants of summer as December. There was previous controversy as it was rumored throughout the interwebs that spectacularly weak-piped Taylor Swift would be playing Eponine. The official cast list has since been released and showed that professional singer Samantha Barks would be taking the role. However, the rest of the cast still contains some dubious choices, such as Anne Hathaway and Amanda Seyfried, who admittedly are both singers but mayarguably be unable to provide the depth and power of emotion that the original text demands.

Finally, for those Gleeks who are saddened by Lea Michele’s departure from Murphy’s aforementioned show, Michele’s voice will be returning to our screens soon enough in the animated musical, “Dorothy of Oz.” Though the release date is far away and very little is known about the plot (although it hardly seems hazardous to guess that most of the spoilers are contained in the title) it will be interesting to see Michele return to the Wizard of Oz storyline. Michele has struck gold once already with this tale; fingers crossed that she will be able to do it again both for the sake of Michele herself and the twelve dollars audiences will have to pay to see this movie, which will surely be released in 3D.

Musicals may not always transition that well to the big screen, but even the most pretentious of us have to admit there’s a certain kind of magic when we see our favorite songs jazzed up with Hollywood production values. Hey, if it works on the stage might as well throw a couple million at it and add a camera; it’s all the same in the end, right?

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