Once upon a time cinema was the final platform for Broadway plays and musicals. But witness the sea change, as scores of successful movies are being transformed for the Great White Way—and, on many occasions, with music added.

The first-ever Centerpiece of the New York Film Festival, Woody Allen’s 1994 Bullets Over Broadway is a tale of life in the theater during the very Roaring Twenties, populated with gangsters, showgirls, and other colorful personalities. Along with Dianne Wiest, as a diva who devours all in her path, and John Cusack, as an idealistic playwright, Jim Broadbent, Harvey Fierstein, Chazz Palminteri, Mary-Louise Parker, Rob Reiner, Jennifer Tilly, and Tracey Ullman make up the outstanding ensemble cast that helped the film become a classic.

To celebrate the April opening of Bullets over Broadway: The Musical, starring Zach Braff and Marin Mazzie, at the St. James Theatre, the Film Society will present an archival print of Bullets Over Broadway, followed by a conversation with director/choreographer Susan Stroman and lead producers Letty Aronson and Julian Schlossberg. The three will discuss the creative process of turning a movie into a musical, touching on the pleasures as well as the pitfalls of this particular transformation, including plenty of backstage stories. Hosted by TCG.

Following the discussion, the audience is invited to a reception in the Frieda and Roy Furman Gallery.