houdini- Page 3

[jo]

Posted: 7/7/13 at 10:42pm

Oops - I meant spring 2015! The tryout is supposed to happen ( if things happen as planned) in the fall of 2014 - so I guess part of the workshops, casting and some rehearsals will happen before that - and the rest will take place after the results of the tryout, before it heads to Broadway.




Updated On: 7/7/13 at 10:42 PM

[justincharacter]

Posted: 7/7/13 at 11:21pm

So Hugh will not be playing for tryouts, or he will?

[jo]

Posted: 7/7/13 at 11:26pm

He did out-of-town tryouts for his musical revue before the show opened on Broadway ( as Hugh Jackman, Back on Broadway) - this was in San Francisco at the Curran and in Toronto at the Princess of Wales.

Maybe he will, for this show? He has been attached to Houdini for sometime now, all through the rewriting and changes in the creative team ( songwriters, bookwriters) - he was already attached to it since he was on Broadway in A Steady Rain ( 2009).

[Nerwen]

Posted: 7/24/13 at 9:23am

In a new interview Hugh said that they will have a final workshop this year and that if everything goes well that it will come next year to Broadway. That is somewhat confusing in respect to what the director Jack O´Brien a few weeks ago said, that they will have their out of town try out in fall 2014 and then hopefully open spring 2015 on Broadway.

So is Hugh not well informed or did they somehow hurry up?



Updated On: 7/24/13 at 09:23 AM

[Fan2]

Posted: 7/26/13 at 7:39pm

In this video interview with Hugh for the Wolverine movie, towards the end he is asked about Houdini and says they are looking at Chicago for the out-of-town tryout.
Houdini Info

[jo]

Posted: 7/27/13 at 12:46am

Thanks for pointing that out, Fan2!

I actually opened that link previously but I was more interested in Roeper's review ( Rated FRESH by Rotten Tomatoes) of THE WOLVERINE - lol!

Well, at least with Hugh Jackman -- you usually have a continuing series of performances to view, whether in the cinema ( he has another one coming soon, PRISONERS, on Sept 20) or on stage. The way he has mentioned the project on two other Red Carpet interviews for THE WOLVERINE, it looks like there is a strong possibility of HOUDINI making it to Broadway earlier than what Jack O'Brien previously shared as a spring 2015 likelihood for an opening?

I was speculating San Francisco as the tryout town, but now he has already specified Chicago as the lucky place

It sounds as if it is going to be on a very tight schedule to get it to Broadway!

[kade.ivy]

Posted: 7/28/13 at 8:01pm

Thanks Fan2 for the link! "X-Men: Days of Future Past" is scheduled for a May 2014 release, which means Hugh would presumably be out of the show doing publicity for the film around the time Tony voters come to the show, right? Can't really see that going over well with "Houdini" producers, but I also can't see the "X-Men" producers letting Hugh out of publicity. A production in the 2014/2015 season makes the most sense to me, but what do I know?

Updated On: 7/28/13 at 08:01 PM

[justincharacter]

Posted: 7/28/13 at 8:09pm

I'd rather see it during this upcoming season. From what has been announced, the whole season seems like a snoozefest to me...(with the exception of Aladdin and Bullets Over Broadway)

[jo]

Posted: 7/28/13 at 8:40pm

Presumably, Hugh has sorted out his schedule and commitments when he started responding to inquiries on HOUDINI and indicating a spring 2014 possibility? He probably prefers the earlier date ( if the workshops are very positive) relative to new film project prospects ...or could the HOUDINI project lose him if it goes beyond 2014? He has been attached to the stage musical project for a long time now - I remember as early as 2009 when he was on Broadway for A STEADY RAIN.

Days of Future Past is being released on May 23, 2014. The media junket could take place in NYC mostly, to accomodate Hugh's stage commitment ( if it happens). Besides it is an ensemble movie with a fairly stellar cast who can do much of the promotion work worldwide.

During the Oscar and other awards season when there were a lot of promotional actvities and screenings for LES MISERABLES for AMPAS and other voters, he was also busy filming PRISONERS in Atlanta. That was why he ended up with that kind of facial hair when he led the ensemble singing at the Oscars.

We'll see what happens...





Updated On: 7/28/13 at 08:40 PM

[Nerwen]

Posted: 8/29/13 at 2:11pm

Some news:

Houdini composer Stephen Schwartz recently revealed that he hopes the musical will play in Chicago prior to a Broadway run in the 2013-14 season.

He told AP: "I'm specifically writing for Hugh in terms of what I think will sound good in his voice and what sorts of things will really help him to do the things that he does."

On the current progress of the new musical, he added: "As soon as we finished it, of course, we immediately said, 'We have to rewrite this entire thing. But nevertheless we're moving on to try to get a complete draft of the show."

So they had it finished and then decided to rewrite it!?!? Well, I don´t see how it should be able to open on Broadway in Spring 2014.

That is an really interesting interview with Schwartz:

http://www.kansas.com/2013/08/29/2970552/schwartz-working-on-draft-of-musical.html

"I've found the last couple of Broadway seasons pretty disappointing from the point of view of musicals,"

So he isn´t impressed with the musicals of the last few years...

[jo]

Posted: 8/29/13 at 4:30pm

Hugh is on a sabbatical from making movies now - after filming 4 movies one right after another ( Les Miserables/The Wolverine/Prisoners/XMEN-Days of Future Past) - he says he is now "grounded"! His only announced engagement for the rest of the year ( excluding promotion for PRISONERS) is his ONE-NIGHT-ONLY concert in LA at the Dolby Theatre ( where the Oscars are held) for the Motion Pictures and Television Fund on October 12. He has been talking about the workshop ( he calls it the third and final workshop ) during the press tour for THE WOLVERINE. I guess with his free time now, he will be calling Stephen Schwartz and David Ives ( the new bookwriter, according to Jack O'Brien) often to follow up on their progress -- hmmm...Wolverine is not a very patient man )

In the long video clip panel interview with Stephen Schwartz where he discusses the development of WICKED ( a very long and protracted period) posted by BWW - Stephen said that "the best part of composing is rewriting," if I remember correctly.

We'll see -- there are other considerations that needs to be firmed up quite ahead of any run( theatre in Chicago and on Broadway, casting) and the constraint from Hugh's tight schedule (such as a major film project may just crop up) will have to be worked out. Also, they have to work out how he can join the heavy promotion for the next XMEN movie, due out on May 23, 2014.







Updated On: 8/29/13 at 04:30 PM

[jo]

Posted: 8/29/13 at 4:42pm

Reported on another theatre site re the current update --

>>>The musical’s director, Tony winner Jack O’Brien, gushed to Broadway.com about the score that Schwartz is creating for the show. “The two ballads Stephen has written, one that closes Act I and one that closes the show, are among the greatest things he’s ever written,” O’Brien said. "Hugh just kills with them. It’s vintage Schwartz, it’s gorgeous.”<<<

I think that first reading was in June 2012. And I do remember watching that clip of the fairly recent O'Brien interview ( something to do with his autobiography).

[rosscoe(au)]

Posted: 8/29/13 at 7:01pm

ACCLAIMED Broadway composer Stephen Schwartz says he's hard at work on a full draft of the musical Houdini, starring Hugh Jackman.

"I'm specifically writing for Hugh in terms of what I think will sound good in his voice and what sorts of things will really help him to do the things that he does," Schwartz said during the Dramatist Guild of America's conference in Chicago. He is the group's president.

The Academy Award- and Grammy Award-winner - famous for Wicked, Godspell and Pippin - said a reading of the new full show is scheduled for December and he's been "writing away on it" with a collaborator. So far, he said, they have a full first act of Houdini.

"As soon as we finished it, of course, we immediately said, 'We have to rewrite this entire thing,'" Schwartz said. "But nevertheless we're moving on to try to get a complete draft of the show."

Houdini is scheduled to reach Broadway during the 2013-2014 season. Schwartz said he hopes the show will make an out-of-town debut in Chicago before it premieres on Broadway.

So far, the fun, he said, has been writing music and lyrics with Jackman in mind. Schwartz said he's considering "Where does he want to stretch himself? Where does he want to do something that he feels he has and we feel he has that he hasn't really shown before?"

In April, admirers of the composer packed Carnegie Hall in New York for a tribute marking both Schwartz's 65th birthday and the 10th anniversary of Wicked, which is still a tough ticket. But that show's success doesn't amount to pressure, he said.

"It sort of makes you feel, 'I have this big hit running, well if this doesn't work out, it doesn't work out," Schwartz said.

Schwartz's work on Houdini could serve to counteract what he calls a recent "artistic slump" in commercial musical theater with shows that he says are safe and formulaic.

"I've found the last couple of Broadway seasons pretty disappointing from the point of view of musicals," Schwartz said. "Though from the point of view of plays it's been pretty exciting."

Besides Houdini, Schwartz has been focusing on his role as president of the dramatist guild. He cited censorship at schools and theaters as one threat that is proving stifling and discouraging for playwrights. He said his own 1971 work, Godspell, has become more controversial recently. The guild has a legal defense fund that can help writers with censorship, copyright and other issues, he said.

"Really that's what theaters should be doing, is causing audiences and people to think about things and look at things in a different way," Schwartz said. "Not flag-waving for whatever the prevailing point of view is at that point."

This mornings Australian papers

[Fan2]

Posted: 10/17/13 at 2:05pm

More info from Schwartz:

>>The composer's "to do" list was staggering: Working on lyrics to a new Bollywood animated movie musical, jetting around the world from Toledo to New Zealand to check in on productions of the musical "Wicked" and prepping for a private look-see in December of his Broadway-bound show, "Houdini" which stars Hugh Jackman as the master magician.<<

AND:

>>"I'm completely in the midst of 'Houdini' now. We have a draft of the first act and are working on the second. It's my favorite time, actually, working with collaborators, the back and forth brainstorming and finding discoveries. Plus I get to be home a lot."

Schwartz says "Houdini" is a period show, taking place during 1892 to 1926, with most of it taking place 1924 to 26. "In writing the music I am trying to be suggestive of the period and then not. The closest equivalent I can think of is a show like 'Follies.'."

Schwartz says because of star Hugh Jackman's schedule, the show is on a specific trajectory toward a Broadway production. "Hugh can take a year basically to do the show so things are geared around that." There will be reading at the end of the year, then workshops, then an out-of-town tryout with the show positioned for the fall of 2014. "We feel the schedule is tight but reasonable."<<


Houdini Timetable

[Fan2]

Posted: 11/15/13 at 6:26am

In a wide-ranging interview, Jackman reveals that besides Houdini, he's contemplating a play. Wonder what play? He also talks a bit about Oklahoma!

>>You’re a Tony Award winner. When are you returning to Broadway?

I have two things that I’m really actively working on. One is a musical about Houdini that we’ve been working on for two or three years now and hopefully we’ll make progress very soon. The other is a play which I can’t tell you about, but I really want to get back on Broadway soon. I did my one-man show here two years ago — I can’t believe it’s that long. I miss it. I’m a creature of the stage so I want to get back.

Your production of “Oklahoma!” is being broadcast this Friday on PBS on “Great Performances.”

Oh is it? I’ll have to show my kids that — they’ve never seen it! That’s cool.

After “Oklahoma!,” you were cast as the Wolverine.

That’s true! I actually did my audition with that curly perm in my hair. They said “Listen, we liked him but next time could you come back without the perm and lose the Southern cowboy accent?” I literally did my audition between the Wednesday matinee and the Wednesday evening performance in London.

Were you cast as Wolverine while still performing in the musical?

No, I had finished “Oklahoma!” at that point. The time between my first audition and the last was nine months. So I auditioned and I didn’t get it originally. I then went on to do a couple other things in Australia, and then I heard the guy who got it, Dougray Scott, was caught up on a movie, “Mission Impossible: II” so they were out looking again. I just happened to be there and kept doing more auditions. Seven auditions later, I wore them down.<<


Interview

[pli1018]

Posted: 12/23/13 at 4:42pm

http://variety.com/2013/legit/news/hugh-jackman-exits-brewing-broadway-musical-houdini-1200990992/

Surprise, surprise.

[kade.ivy]

Posted: 12/23/13 at 4:54pm

Sad sad sad. I don't understand...

[justincharacter]

Posted: 12/23/13 at 4:55pm

Sad to hear, but this could actually be a good thing. I wonder if it will open sooner, since Jackman is out of the picture.

[bobs3]

Posted: 12/23/13 at 5:09pm

Not surprised at all. I guessed long ago that his film production schedule would preclude a year-long run in a Broadway musical. Perhaps he'll be back on Broadway soon in another one man show or a limited run in a play (ala A STEADY RAIN).

[dramamama611]

Posted: 12/23/13 at 5:54pm

I would think he got tired of waiting as well. That's a shame, though, I was looking forward to it with him.

[kyl3fong2]

Posted: 12/23/13 at 6:02pm

[beckum]

Posted: 12/23/13 at 7:13pm

behind the scenes called it way back in May

[Kad]

Posted: 12/23/13 at 9:51pm

I would be shocked if this happens at all. Writers changing, the star the show is being written for drops out, delays after delays- none of it bodes well.

[justincharacter]

Posted: 12/23/13 at 10:35pm

As much as I was excited to see Hugh in the role, I wouldn't be surprised if they go for another name or someone else as a replacement. Norbert or Will Chase, possibly? I know Hugh was a HUGE factor in the writing and production.

Does anyone know if Willemijn is still connected to this?

Updated On: 12/23/13 at 10:35 PM

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 12/24/13 at 1:14am

The producers must be slitting their wrists. With The JackMan starring they had a sure fire Money-making hit whatever the critics said, with anybody else it's another new musical fighting the upstream of Modern Star Fueled Shows. The investors must have been on their phones all day pulling out their money and cancelling checks.
justincharacter, Will Chase is extremely talented but not a ticket seller and BIG FISH proved that Norbert alone, maybe our most gifted male musical performer, can't sell a weak show,