ABSTRACT
The popular trope of the struggling painter who tries to carve out a living while soaking up the inspiration that Paris can offer was given sophisticated treatment in the MGM movie, An American in Paris (1951). The film is famous for its 17-minute ballet set to George Gershwin’s ‘rhapsodic ballet’ which gave the movie its title, the ballet making startling visual references to Dufy, Manet, Utrillo, Rousseau, Van Gogh and Toulouse-Lautrec. Previous screen-to-stage adaptations of famous MGM classics, most notably Singin’ in the Rain, were content to re-produce the respective movie without any major changes. When director-choreographer Christopher Wheeldon and librettist Craig Lucas adapted An American in Paris, however, they completely re-conceived the material. Together with scenographer Bob Crowley their 2014 version builds on yet transforms basic story elements, utilising an imaginative new scenographic conceit that combines striking costumes, stylised digital projections and graphic set pieces that appear to be in the process of creation by an artist in the presence of the audience. The chapter will compare the approaches to choreography, narrative and design of the famous movie and its celebrated stage adaptation to explore how differently they employ their artistic means in dealing with the inter-involved tropes of music, art, dance and love in Paris.
