Fortress of Solitude

[inception]

Posted: 3/22/14 at 1:31pm

Reviews seem really good for the Dallas premiere of Fortress of Solitude, the new musical from Michael Friedman (Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson) based on the novel by Jonathan Lethem. When does The Public usually announce their schedule for the next season? Supposedly this is supposed to be part of their 2014/15 lineup.
This promo video has some promising snippets of songs.


Dallas Theater Center video

Updated On: 3/22/14 at 01:31 PM

[ClydeBarrow]

Posted: 7/11/14 at 2:17pm

I just finished reading this book and pretty much hated it. I honestly can't see how they could make an interesting musical from it especially since the book is divided into two disparate sections where nothing happens. I love anything Michael Friedman does so I'll see the show (especially if Adam is back) but I'm wary.

Has anyone seen the show and read the book?

[haterobics]

Posted: 7/11/14 at 2:19pm

It is announced at the Public now, and tickets are on sale to members at present and to the public later in the month.

http://www.publictheater.org/Tickets/Calendar/PlayDetailsCollection/1415/The-Fortress-of-Solitude/ Updated On: 7/11/14 at 02:19 PM

[inception]

Posted: 7/11/14 at 8:19pm

Thanks haterobics!
I don't think it is surprising that C.B. and I would disagree about something. I think it is a great book, but yes likely difficult to adapt. Since the post I made back in March I have read some more reviews of the Dallas production and some were not quite so positive. I would have to search again for them. One had quite a few spoilers which seemed to suggest that a number of changes were made to the plot in adapting it.
I'm hoping to get to NY on the Canadian Thanksgiving weekend in October to see this. Already have tickets to see Hedwig with Andrew Rannells. Waiting to see what else might announce - would Side Show make an appearance as early as October?

[luvcaroline]

Posted: 7/11/14 at 9:59pm

We saw this during its Dallas run and enjoyed much of it. The 2 leads we're quite good and Andre de Shields was wonderful. It did suffer from trying to include too much and could benefit from some trimming. I liked most of the score. I'm anxious to hear what others think when it opens there.

[nmlhats]

Posted: 7/16/14 at 7:23pm

I saw it a couple of times in Dallas and I read the book AFTER the show (recommended in that order). The stage version had some excellent parts but I agree it could use a little trim; perhaps that will happen before opening night at the Public. I really enjoyed the book, but I can see that one might either love or hate the author's style. The book is dense with detail, which would make it even harder to adapt. The show really only contains a few nuggets from the book, and I think if you had read he book first and then saw the show you might be disappointed at how slimmed down the show is compared to the book. On the other hand, I was able to appreciate the show for the show and the book for the book, without having to lament this or that having been left out. Andre de Shields brought the house down every night. Adam C-B and Kyle Beltran were both good as our boy protagonists, and Kevin Mambo was perfect as Barrett Rude, Jr. I know you've got de Shields, Beltran and Adam C-B in NY, but don't know if Mambo has been cast there or not. I hope so.

[ThorouglyModern2]

Posted: 7/17/14 at 10:14pm

Unless they make some serious changes, I don't think this show will be anything special...A couple of the most important plot points seemed disjointed and really didn't have the gravitas they were trying to sell. Another important plot point was completely left out of the entire 2nd act and so left unresolved. Another minor point was so confusing I had to research the book on wikipedia when I got home to figure it out.

While race and class issues certainly permeate the play about the friendship of 2 boys, I felt that everything still revolved around the white character (Adam Chanler Berat). The 2nd main character is black and seemed to only exist in relation to Adam's story instead of having his own story. (which is probably from the source material but I still think should be changed)

It does have some outstanding supporting roles and I enjoyed the choreography.

In some ways it reminds me of Fly By Night (another collaboration between DTC and the Public) which had a good spark of an idea but ultimately fell short...And they both starred Adam Chandler-Berat.