15 Movies We Would Like to See on Broadway

UNITED STATES – NOVEMBER 22: Jennifer Garner, laden with shopping bags, prepares to get into a car outside Henri Bendel on Fifth Ave. during filming of ’13 Going on 30.’ She stars in the movie. (Photo by Richard Corkery/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images)

 14. 13 Going on 30

I don’t know a single person who doesn’t like 13 Going on 30. The story of Jenna (Christa B. Allen/Jennifer Garner) wishing on her 13th birthday to become, “30, flirty, and thriving”, is not only funny, but relatable. Add in Mark Ruffalo at his Mark Ruffalo-iest as Jenna’s childhood best friend Matty and you have a fun and joyful rom com that also manages to be about the struggles of being both a teenager and an adult.

13 Going on 30 already has two great music numbers that would translate perfectly to the stage. The first one is the scene where adult Jenna and her new young friends dance to Pat Benatar’s “Love is a Battlefield” featuring dress up, pillow fighting, and classic hairbrush microphone singing. Imagine that on stage now with lots of dancing and energy and joy.

The other one is when Jenna turns a boring work function around with a giant “Thriller” dance party. Michael Jackson’s creepy cool zombie tune is already a classic, but put in on Broadway and you’ll have a whole new generation of kids wanting to learn the steps. Both songs would be really fun moments that fans of the film would come to anticipate as well as a new original score.

If you don’t think 13 Going on 30 would work, just look at the success of Legally Blonde: The Musical. A movie that doesn’t seem like it would necessarily work as a musical was turned into a pretty outstanding  play. It was so popular it aired in its entirety on MTV, something almost unheard of for a Broadway. Legally Blonde proved that a comedy film with a female lead could make the leap to the stage and do it with great new songs and lots of pink. 13 Going on 30 could be the next film to do the same. Better stock up on your razzles.