Wed, 9 Nov 1994 09:55:56 CST
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re: Aristotle . . .
Aristotle never said anything about three-act structure.
p.s. Shakespeare's stage directions (and act divisions) . . .
The stage directions are for the most part added by later editors.
The act divisions are entirely their doing.
p.p.s. screenplays as literature . . .
Bear in mind that plays often come from novels,
and that musicals often come from plays.
n.b. My Fair Lady (the film) is based upon My Fair Lady
(the musical) which is based upon Pygmalion (the play,
which Shaw based on the myth).
In similar fashion, Cabaret (the film; earlier, the musical)
comes from the play I Am A Camera which John Van Druten
adapted from Christopher Isherwood's Berlin Stories.
The musical and the film will are clearly superior to the play,
and it is difficult to imagine a revival of the musical
which could equal the film (which retains Liza Minelli
and Joel Gray from the original B'way cast
and substantially builds up Gray's role.)