15 Movies We Would Like to See on Broadway

Image via Warner Brothers UK

12. A Little Princess

A Little Princess is a book written by Frances Hodgson Burnett that was made into three different movies, the 1995 one being most notably directed by Alfonso Cuaron. In 2004 the movie was made into a play. So technically this is cheating. But The Little Princess never made it to Broadway probably due to the negative reviews it received and I believe it deserves that chance.

The Little Princess is a magical story about a young girl named Sara (Liesel Matthews in 1994, Shirley Temple in 1939) who is forced to leave her home in India after her mother dies and her father enlists in the army. She is sent to boarding school in England, where everything is unfamiliar and the other girls are unfriendly. Sara faces setback after setback including mean girls at school, an evil headmistress, the death of her father, and the loss of her fortune. Despite it all she manages to stay upbeat and uses her imagination to create a better life for herself and her one friend Becky (Vanessa Lee Chester).

A Little Princess would make a great musical for the Broadway stage, either with revisions on the current script or a new one entirely. Depending on when the play is set (the films took place in different years), the costumes could be anything from classic Victorian dresses to something closer to the pre-World War I era. Combine that with the bright colors and traditional costumes from Sara’s dreams in India and you would have a visually enjoyable play that could make use of a variety of different kinds of young actresses.

A Little Princess is a touching story of friendship, family, and one little girl’s perseverance. It is an inspiring, emotional journey that would look beautiful on a big stage. Cast actors who can evoke the necessary emotions from the songs and you have yourself a musical.