You want to know what the next big musical will be? Look for the try-out places.
Usually, they're not in the U.S. (too expensive) or U.K. (ditto, unless it's publicly-funded).
Look for the locations with the magic formula--that is, a cosmopolitan audience which somehow mirrors that of Broadway, great technical capacity married to comparatively low costs, a press intelligent and interested enough to give some useful feedback but not quite high-profile enough to act as a spoiler (either positive or negative) for the Great White Way.
Amsterdam is one such place, Toronto another, Melbourne a third. And it is from the Australian city that King Kong the musical will leap across the sea, to New York, reports the New York Times.
Whether the big monkey will feel a little queasy being so close to the Empire State Building (bad memories) has yet to be seen. In any case, it is certain to behave on account of it being a puppet. A giant, animatronic, puppet that takes at least 10 people to operate.
The show is by Craig Lucas and Marius De Vries. Some notable names are attached, especially additional lyrics by Richard Thomas, the supremely talented guy behind Jerry Springer - The Opera. And also watch out for the excellent director Daniel Kramer--his Hair production in London was seen by some as perhaps the most thrilling in a major city that that musical has ever had.
Kong's New York opening date has yet to be confirmed. It will, as the paper points out, be eager to avoid the fate of the pricey spesh FX show it will, in a way, replace: Spider Man - Turn Off The Dark (from Bono and The Edge).
One thing's for sure. It will leave one heck of a paw print.
© 2024 Classicalite All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
