We all know that several Hollywood A-listers also dabble in theater. Actors like Hugh Jackman and Daniel Craig have long been cutting their teeth on both screen and stage for years, as have people like Daniel Radcliffe when he starred in a rendition of the controversial play Equis, Ariana Grande started on Broadway when she was only a child, Jon Hamm has stepped on to the stage a few times, as have Neil Patrick Harris, Jason Alexander, Matthew Broderick, and so many more.
But, there are some in Hollywood who also dabble in jobs behind the curtains instead of in front of them. Some musicians and actors also have written stage plays, some of which were huge successes, and others that were total flops, and in some cases, they adapt their films for the stage. You might be surprised to learn that Tom Waits wrote a play with beat legend William S. Burroughs, or that Stephen King and John Mellencamp wrote a play together. You might also not realize this, but the guy who shouts “INCONCEIVABLE!” all the time in The Princess Bride is one of the most accomplished playwrights of the 20th century.
8 Bono And The Edge Were Involved In A Flop Spider-Man Musical
Okay, technically Bono only wrote the music not the dialogue of the play, but this was such a notorious debacle that it has to be included. Bono and U2 guitarist The Edge wrote the music for Spiderman Turn Off The Dark which is a play based on both the 2002 film and the Greek Myth of Arachne. Production was a notorious debacle, the show ultimately flopped, and it cost $75 million to make.
7 Stephen King And Rocker John Mellencamp Wrote A Horror Play Together
King doesn’t just write books, he has dabbled in writing for both the screen and the stage. Ghost Brothers of Darkland County was co-written with Americana rocker John Mellencamp (a close friend of Stephen King's) and it debuted in 2013. Technically this debuted in Atlanta, not Broadway, but we are likely to see Broadway and off-Broadway renditions of the play sometime when another plucky young director decides to take a crack at it.
6 Eric Idle Turned Monty Python's Most Popular Movie Into A Play
The Monty Python alum adapted his comedy troupe's classic film Monty Python and The Holy Grail for the stage by adding musical numbers and adding what the censors would not allow them to do in the 1970s. And thus Spamalot was born and has since been running on Broadway for nearly two decades now. Idle's fellow Python, John Cleese, plans to turn another one of their films, Monty Python's Life of Brian, into a play.
5 Mel Brooks Turned 'The Producers' Into A Hit Musical
Like Idle, Brooks took one of his most popular films and turned it into a musical for Broadway. The Producers debuted on stage starring Matthew Broderick and Nathan Lane. The pair returned to their roles when the musical version was made into a film in 2006. Brooks has also converted another of his films, Young Frankenstein, into a musical.
4 Steve Martin Is Not Just A Comedian, He Is An Accomplished Playwright
Steve Martin is a man of many talents. He is considered one of the greatest standup comedians of all time, he is an expert musician and phenomenal banjo player, he has hosted SNL almost as much as Tom Hanks, and several of his films are classics, like The Jerk or LA Story. He is also a great writer with several books and plays to his name. His plays include 2014’s Bright Star, 2016’s Meteor Shower, 2002’s The Underpants, and Picasso At The Lapin Agile in 1996.
3 Tom Waits Wrote A Play With The Guy Who Wrote 'Naked Lunch'
As mentioned in the intro, the avant-garde musician also wrote a play with William S. Burroughs, the controversial author of books like Queer, Junkie, and Naked Lunch. Together they wrote The Black Rider for which Waits also wrote the book and music. The pair co-wrote the play with theater director Robert Wilson.
2 Tyler Perry Started His Career In The Theater
Perry is now the man in charge of a billion-dollar empire of entertainment, but he got his start cutting his teeth on Broadway. In fact, many of the films that Perry is now famous for started as plays, and his character Madea was first introduced on stage before Diary of A Mad Black Woman debuted on screen in 2006. Perry’s plays include Diary of A Mad Black Woman, I Can Do Bad All By Myself, and Why Did I Get Married, which were all adapted for film.
1 Wallace Shawn Lives For The Theater And Is A Best Selling Author Too
Yes, Fezzini, AKA the Inconceivable guy from Rob Reiner's The Princess Bride, also the voice of Rex in Toy Story, and Dr. Sturges from the Chuck Lorre sitcomYoung Sheldon is an award-winning playwright. He won multiple Obie awards in the 1980s for his sometimes highly controversial and sexual plays, and the politics of theater are scrutinized closely in Shawn’s classic film My Dinner With Andre. Shawn’s plays include Aunt Dan and Lemon and The Fever. Shawn is also a renowned essayist who has written for the progressive magazine The Nation for several years. A collection of his essays was published as a book as well, Essays was published by Haymarket books in 2009. There is so much more to Wallace Shawn than just his catchphrase from that one movie, granted, it was a great movie.
