Listicle: 10 stage-to-screen adaptations that we can’t stop watching

How’s this for a tornado? The movie is an adaptation of the stage musical. The stage musical is a prequel, the backstory of the two witches from The Wizard of Oz movie. The movie, a 1939 classic, was based on a musical. That musical also had three silent-film versions. No Dorothy in this version, starring Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande. But there is a tale of friendship and revenge, a comment on identity and power. And high notes for Glee fans.

Two women are awaiting trial for killing their husbands in 1920s Chicago. Did they do it? Oh, they did! Will their lawyer help them get away with it? Before we find out, there’s a cutthroat fight to win public sympathy and hopefully, later, a gig. Rob Marshall’s movie works because he twists the Broadway plot, telling it from the POV of one of the women, Roxie, the housewife who dreams of stardom. It’s sparkly, funny and, OMG so sexy. You’ll shimmy for days after.

Both films do what the stage can’t – give the Romeo and Juliet retelling the quiet, intimate moments it needs to make the tragedy work. Watch Steven Spielberg’s version with Ansel Elgort and Rachel Zegler. The star-crossed lovers look younger, cuter, than previous Tonys and Marias. They make the most of every nook, every stolen kiss, so the story holds its own against that legendary choreography.

Ah, 2007. Tim Burton was still doing good work. Johnny Depp was a good guy. Helena Bonham Carter was… just as odd. The movie has the sooty, menacing, Victorian feel of the play. But it shaves off the dull bits to give Depp more room to brood. Crucially, the actors enunciate, highlighting the killer wordplay: “We have some shepherd’s pie peppered with actual shepherd on top.” The best worst pies in London!

Someone thought of stringing unrelated Abba hits into a story about a young woman hoping to learn who her father is before she weds. Someone else turned it into a hit musical, set in Greece. Everyone bid for the movie rights. The film is frothy, silly, camp – perfect for singalongs. Meryl Streep plays the bride’s mum, doing drunken karaoke, diving into the sea. The music is the message, and hey, you know the words already.

Hedwig, as in the gay, struggling East German singer, trailing Tommy – ex-lover, thief, rock star. The Angry Inch, as in a botched sex-change job that’s left a stub of regret. Neil Patrick Harris plays Hedwig in the stage revival. But the movie with John Cameron Mitchell has the most heart. The wigs are big. The pants, sequinned. The comedy, tinged with emotion. The songs, lessons in philosophy and rock history.

The horror musical honouring horror and sci-fi B-movies, has had a surprisingly loud afterlife. There are annual conventions, shadow-cast performances, punk-rock fashion trends, LGBT homages, and a video game. And there’s this movie. There’s a castle, a mad scientist, an alien transvestite, a Time Warp. And Meatloaf, singing Hot Patootie, Bless My Soul. It’s all a bit much. That’s the best part.

The stage version, critics say, was meh. The film dropped the dud songs, added new ones (including You’re The One That I Want) and cast 30-somethings as high-school teens. We don’t mind. Young John Travolta, slim of hip, pouting of lip, is the perfect jock. Olivia Newton John, goodest of good girls, is lovely too. There’s a mean girl, a car race, a makeover. That’s the Hollywood way.

Adapted from the play that is adapted from the opera La Boheme, which is itself based on a novel. The old story gets an update – our bohemians are penniless artsy folks from New York City’s East Village, who struggle with sexuality, Aids, selling out, and of course, paying rent. A box-office flop, it’s become a cult hit over the years. The highlight? The gang singing La Vie Boheme, perfectly ruining a posh party.

Lin-Manuel Miranda before Hamilton. Stephanie Beatriz hot off Brooklyn Nine-Nine. America’s Latin culture, people and aspirations. Hip-hop, salsa, merengue. So much energy that if they did the same dances on stage, they’d have broken it. The viral clip from one song says it all: My mom is Dominican-Cuban, my dad is from Chile and PR. Which means/ I’m Chile-Domini-Curican. But I always say I’m from Queens!