Far From Normal For BroadwayYesterday, it was announced that
Next To Normal -- a musical from
Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey -- will turn things upside down on the Great White Way when it lands this April 15 at the
Longacre Theatre.
According to
The New York Times, the production will take the unprecedented step of purposely reducing the number of seats to provide a more intimate atmosphere. The capacity will be reduced from 1100 to just 820. Producer
David Stone says:
We want an 800-seat theater but none were available, and this is a very emotional play and I’m a big believer in creating the theater space you need.
Given this economy, you have to give the guy credit.
While
Michael Greif (
Rent and
Grey Gardens) will once again direct the tuner, as he did
Off-Broadway and at the DC area's
Arena Stage, there's no word on casting other than a reference in the
Times piece describing the musical:
The musical, budgeted at $4 million, centers on a woman with bipolar
disorder (played by the Tony nominee Alice Ripley) and the impact of her illness
and her treatment on her family.
Presumably, this will go on without
Brian d'Arcy James, who's already appearing on Broadway in
Shrek The Musical. Stay tuned for more details.
UPDATED (2.25.09, 9:10 a.m. EST): According to Playbill.com, the entire cast from Arena Stage -- Alice Ripley, J. Robert Spencer, Aaron Tveit, Jennifer Damiano, Adam Chanler-Berat and Louis Hobson -- will return to their roles at the Booth Theatre instead of the Longacre.This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Labels: Alice Ripley, Brian Yorkey, Broadway, David Stone, First Word On New Show, Michael Grief, Musical, Next To Normal, Tom Kitt, Transfer
Wicked At FiveIn case you haven't already noticed, either by virtue of the
Empire State Building glowing in green or my posts from the past couple of days, the Broadway musical
Wicked is celebrating its
fifth anniversary of its Great White Way opening this evening.
Just a month or two into our relationship,
The Love of My Life and I first saw
Wicked together on the afternoon of November 1, 2003. Some couples have their song. We have our musical.
It springs not just from sitting back, relaxing and enjoying the actual performances
Wicked offers, but it's also derived from our innate love for the original "
Wizard Of Oz" film. After all, we were practically weaned on it as our families gathered around the television sets each year for what amounted to "event" TV way back when.
But cementing our affection for the tuner is
Wicked's inspired twisting inside out of that original tale we thought we already knew backwards and forwards. Together, for the first time, we felt a little wicked in sharing an experience we both heartily enjoyed.
Since we first saw and loved the production from our fifth row center seats a mere two days after it initially opened, we've seen the show enough times that I've honestly lost count. Not only have we been back to the
Gershwin Theatre at least another four times to see the likes of Elphaba and Glinda, but I've also been back there for the
Behind the Emerald Curtain Tour and Monday's night's
The Yellow Brick Road Not Taken benefit performance.
Oh yes, and then there were the performances in Chicago. Not only did we take in the
original touring production when it first landed at the Windy City's Oriental Theatre, but we returned to the subsequent
sitdown production there over and over and over and over again while living there (and even after we moved away). We even had several opportunities there to see our future friend and Tony winner
Rondi Reed perform as Madame Morrible.
Post Chicago, we also took in the touring cast in Minneapolis before venturing overseas to each of the international productions in
London (April 2007),
Stuttgart (November 2007),
Tokyo (December 2007) and
Melbourne (July 2008), and you can bet that we're looking forward to seeing more of the world after this show opens elsewhere. Anyone want to meet us in Amsterdam next?
Just as
The Love of My Life and I celebrate our five years together, the two of us are celebrating
Gregory Maguire for providing the decidedly different, more adult take on Elphaba and Glinda in the first place through his original novel "
Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West." We celebrate
Stephen Schwartz and
Winnie Holzman for transforming that story into a family musical via their original score and book. We celebrate producers
Marc Platt,
Universal Pictures,
The Araca Group,
Jon B. Platt and
David Stone for having the vision necessary to bring the show to reality. Last, but certainly not least, we celebrate the countless Elphabas, Glindas, Fiyeros, Madame Morribles, Boqs, Nessaroses, Wizards and Doctor Dillamonds who have brought this story to life around the world.
We salute and celebrate all of you. Here's to another
Wicked five years!
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Labels: Anniversary, Broadway, David Stone, Gregory Maguire, Jon B. Platt, London, Marc Platt, Melbourne, Stephen Schwartz, Stuttgart, Tokyo, Touring Production, Wicked, Winnie Holtzman
