'Hideous! Deformed! Grotesque!' Broadway's ELEPHANT MAN Brings Booth Theatre Exterior Into the 19th Century

According to a feature in the New York Daily News, returning Broadway star Bradley Cooper is behind many of the Booth Theatre's exterior transformations for the fall run of THE ELEPHANT MAN.

Drew Hodges, president of the show's advertising agency SpotCo, told the site: "Bradley called me and said, 'I have this idea of making the world of the theater the way it would have been in Merrick's time'...He wanted to make (the Booth) feel like one of the attractions of that time." Hodges continued: "Bradley was so passionate about setting the stage, he got everyone excited."

Director Scott Ellis added: "We talked about the sideshow and about creating a feeling (to get) people looking and thinking about the world before the play begins."

The Booth will now sport a marquee with vintage light bulbs, walls and doors cloaked in 19th-century sideshow-inspired artwork, and period appropriate lamp posts. See a rendering of the new exterior here, and check out the current marquee here!

Bernard Pomerance's Tony Award-winning play The Elephant Man, starring two-time Academy Award nominee Cooper, Academy Award nominee Patricia Clarkson and Alessandro Nivola, and directed by Tony Award nominee Scott Ellis, begins performances on Friday, November 7, 2014 and opens on Sunday, December 7, 2014 at Broadway's Booth Theatre (222 West 45th Street, NYC). This is a limited engagement through Sunday, February 15.

The Elephant Man stars Cooper as John Merrick, Clarkson as Mrs. Kendal, and Nivola as Dr. Fredrik Treves, as well as Anthony Heald as Ross / Bishop Walsham How, Scott Lowell as Snork / Pinhead Manager / Lord John, Kathryn Meisle as Miss Sandwich / Princess and Henry Stram as Carr Gomm / Conductor. The cast will also include Chris Bannow, Peter Bradbury, Lucas Calhoun, Eric Clem, Amanda Lea Mason, Marguerite Stimpson and Emma Thorne.

THE ELEPHANT MAN features Scenic and Projection Design by Timothy R. Mackabee, Costume Design by Clint Ramos, Lighting Design by Philip S. Rosenberg, Original Music and Sound Design by John Gromada.

Based on the real life of Joseph Merrick, The Elephant Man tells the story of a 19th-century British man (Cooper) who became a star of the traveling freak show circuit. When the renowned Dr. Treves (Nivola) takes Merrick under his care at the London Hospital, he is astonished by Merrick's brilliant intelligence and unshakable faith. Soon all of Victorian high society becomes fascinated by Merrick, especially the beautiful actress Mrs. Kendal (Clarkson). But with his new life comes new complexity... and a "normal" existence begins to seem all but impossible.

Pictured, top: Bradley Cooper and and Alessandro Nivola in Williamstown Theatre Festival's 2012 production of THE ELEPHANT MAN. Photo by T. Charles Erickson.

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