Susan DiLallo: On Translations and Adaptations

Susan K DiLallo

Mar 01, 2013

Five things I always ask myself, before deciding to do an adaptation:

1 Do I like the characters? Enough to live with them for the next few years? Sure, a couple of hateful mean-spirited villains in the mix will make things far more interesting, as it does in real life. But if I don’t love the hero, and feel for him on his journey…I’m probably not the right person for the job.

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Susan DiLallo

is a bookwriter/lyricist. Credits include Iron Curtain, Once Upon a Time in New Jersey, Barbie Live! In Fairytopia, Angelina Ballerina, Fancy Nancy, and A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (revised libretto). Awards include the Kleban Award, Richard Rodgers Award, two Outer Critics Circle nominations, and a Jonathan Larson grant. Her latest novel: Things I Wish I Told My Mother, with Sue and James Patterson. Pub date: April 2023.