I have a confession: I walked into Empire Records: The Musical without having watched the cult classic film. Surrounded by audience members referencing the movie’s iconic lines, I worried that I would feel adrift without the knowledge or (perhaps, more importantly) nostalgia of the film. Lacking the fond memories of being a record-buying teenager in the 90s, would the show hold up? But as the cast belted out “Welcome to the Empire” and danced around the facsimile record store, I realized I didn’t need to worry. As I became engrossed in the misadventures of Empire Records’ employees on Rex Manning Day, I began to feel nostalgic for an era I had never even experienced.

Theatre scholar Rebecca Ann Rugg argues that nostalgia is a cornerstone of American musical theatre, impacting everything from the story to the production design to the critical response. Successfully curating nostalgia in musical theatre requires more than just adaption of an iconic movie; everything must contribute to a shared world of the show. Credit must be given to David Rockwell’s impeccably detailed scenic design and Paloma Young’s always-fantastic costumes, both of which created an atmosphere that felt incredibly lived in. But it was Zoe Sarnak’s score that brought me not just into the world of the musical, but also the heart of 90s music and record store culture.

While the film Empire Records wasn’t a musical, its soundtrack has been praised by critics and fans alike. Adapting a beloved movie is a tricky task that requires negotiating a balance between many competing objectives. Crucially, the show should be appealing and legible to long-time fans and new audiences alike. Musical adaptations of movies are fairly common; the 2023-2024 season on Broadway featured three musicals based on movies. Adaptations of movie musicals aren’t rare either; Moulin Rouge! The Musical!, based on Baz Luhrmann’s 2001 film, is still going strong five years after opening on Broadway. 

But Empire Records is a different beast: a film that isn’t a musical but is intrinsically musical nonetheless. Unlike Moulin Rouge, the music of Empire Records isn’t just sung by the characters – it’s an integral part of the world they inhabit and how they move through it.

With so much appreciation for the movie’s music, Sarnak had the difficult task of creating a score that evoked the nostalgia of the film without using any of its soundtrack. In order to do so, she taps into styles and sounds associated with the 90s pop and rock music to create a score that blends this era’s sonic culture with musical theatre sensibilities. In these musicals, the music blurs the boundaries between a character’s internal thoughts and their external actions. This often takes the form of a character working through their thoughts and problems through song. Perhaps the clearest example in Empire Records: The Musical occurs when Gina, one of Empire Records employees, learns that her alcoholic mother drained her college fund, leaving her with no future of escaping their town. As she processes this upheaval she sings “Hometown Story,” a song that instantly evokes Jagged Little Pill-era Alanis Morrissette. Samantha Williams conjures Morrissette’s vocals with her sardonic delivery and, alongside the anguished repetition of “story” in the chorus, the song feels like an homage to “You Oughta Know.” For people like me, whose experience with 90s music culture is retrospective, this reference to Alanis Morrissette is effective in drawing us into the world of the musical. Though I had never heard “Hometown Story” before stepping into the Berlind Theater, I was brought back to all the times I had listened to these types of songs after heartbreak.

The nostalgia I felt after leaving Empire Records was likely very different than what fans of the movie felt. But that, to me, is proof of a successful adaptation.

The Scholar’s Take is a series of essays by Princeton students in response to experiences at McCarter. It is part of Arts & Ideas which connects University scholarship and campus life to the work on our stage. Co-sponsored by the Humanities Council at Princeton University.