Coming to Broadway in 2017

Saw the show in LA and I haven't seen any other threads on it (I assumed people would be talking about this like crazy), so I'll start this off:

Now, I am biased, simply because this is one of my favorite movies ever --
but the stage show is missing so much of the charm of the film.

The acting is great, the performances and singing were wonderful, stage design and direction were pretty top notch. Music kinda blends together in my memory (as in the sound of it), but specifically the lyrics are pretty bland and I don't remember a single song from it. And ALOT of the show is singing, I'd say maybe 85-90% of it, not entirely opera style, but close.

They change A LOT from the movie. There's an entire list of changes on Wikipedia, which made me realize they changed way more than I initially thought. Some things bugged me immensely, but most of them didn't or I didn't notice.

One of my biggest irks was there wasn't narration, which I feel is at least 30-40% of the charm of the film. Something about it works and is essential. Completely missing here, however, a lot of the things the narrator says is in there, just it's by a lot of random people.

Second biggest irk, how they dealt with the setting. They don't have French accents, they speak completely normal English. I think there's one French phrase in the entire 1 hour and 50 minute show. Which is weird, because a lot of the signs are written in French on stage. As in the movie, where the iconography of Paris is tied to the movie, here it seems as if the musical could've taken place anywhere and it wouldn't have made much of a difference.

And third, again, the charm is just missing. A lot of the quirks come specifically from the film-making aspect of the movie, like the random edits and close ups. That tone is so specific. In substitution in the musical, they add some very whacky elements to try and make up for not having the same whimsy as the movie. Some are beyond crazy and some fit the same element of fantasy and the aesthetic it was going for.

Now, not the worst change in the world, but Amelie is so introverted in the movie, but in the musical, obviously you have to be big and exaggerated. She seemed more of a rascal/menace on stage, while in the movie it was more sneaky/"teehee." Now that's not to say Philippa Soo's performance was bad because there's literally no way around that on a stage production, but I actually thought she was pretty great for this interpretation.

I guess that's the main thing to TRY and remember, that this is an interpretation and kind of an English remake/adaptation made into a musical. I imagine I'd feel similar if they would've done this on film in America, as one of the key ingredients to Amelie is it's.... Frenchness haha.

In conclusion, if ya haven't seen the movie, maybe you'll like it. I feel like most lovers of the film will be kinda let down, but that's just a hunch. As we were leaving, people unfamiliar with the movie seemed giddy and said "well that was unexpectedly quirky!" I mean, if you've seen the movie, you came just in hope there'd be some element of that quirk and have an expectation of it, but if that's a surprise thrown on you, maybe it's more inspiring to enjoy.

IMHO, I don't think this quite works on the stage and I don't think this will storm the world as the next phenomenon. In other words, the film will always be remembered as the definitive version, but the musical is an interesting detour if you're a fan of the film.