Stage vs. screen versions a toss-up

With film versions of "Annie," "Dreamgirls" and "Mamma Mia!" all available on DVD, some families might wonder whether seeing the stage versions is all that different.

But like so many stage-to-screen transfers, what is featured on film often differs from the stage original. And frequently the film versions fail to translate what made the live show so special in the first place.

Take for instance director John Huston's 1982 film version of the musical "Annie." New and inferior songs were added, extra characters like Punjab were shoehorned in and Carol Burnett's pivotal performance as Miss Hannigan was largely slammed by film critics for being wildly overacted. (A 1999 Disney TV-movie adaptation of "Annie" starring Kathy Bates was much more faithful to the 1977 stage original).

The original Broadway production of "Annie" was still playing when the film opened, but it closed six months later. At the time, producers thought that the availability of the "Annie" film (and its cheaper tickets) hurt the Broadway production. It led to the belief that film versions of musicals should only be made after the original stage production had closed.

But this line of thinking was thrown out the window with the 2002 movie version of "Chicago." Instead of killing off the current Broadway revival, the movie re-bolstered interest in the stage show and prompted a new professional national tour.

In a sense, the hit 2006 movie version of "Dreamgirls" put the award-winning 1981 Broadway musical back into the public consciousness in a big way, helping the new touring version come to fruition.

Like "The Sound of Music," where film songs often get incorporated into stage revivals, this "Dreamgirls" tour has added in the film song "Listen."

Originally sung by Beyoncé Knowles as a solo on screen, "Listen" becomes a duet as a replacement for sung dialogue in the original stage version for the Act II reconciliation scene between Deena Jones and Effie White.

Meanwhile, the worldwide stage smash hit "Mamma Mia!" probably didn't need the extra exposure of the 2008 movie version. But the fact that "Mamma Mia!" - starring Meryl Streep - has become the most financially successful movie musical in history (beating out the previous champ "Grease") certainly doesn't hurt.

"For people who have never seen a stage musical before, if they tend to just see movies, maybe it will help open the door for people who might think, 'Hey, I've got to see this show live,'" said actress Michelle Dawson, who has toured for the past two years in "Mamma Mia!" in the roles of Tanya and now as Donna. "But there could have never been a movie version and 'Mamma Mia!' would still be successful. It amazes me that even with the bad economy, people still spend the money to come to 'Mamma Mia!' over and over."