Photo Coverage: Starry Theatre Arrivals for ON A CLEAR DAY YOU CAN SEE FOREVER!
By: Walter McBride Dec. 12, 2011
Grammy and Emmy Award winner, Tony Award nominee and multi-platinum recording artist Harry Connick, Jr. stars as Dr. Mark Bruckner in the newly imagined production of ON A CLEAR DAY YOU CAN SEE FOREVER, which opened last night, December 11, 2011 on Broadway at The St. James Theatre and BroadwayWorld was there to capture the starry theatre arrivals!
The roles of David Gamble and Melinda Wells are played, respectively, by David Turner and Jessie Mueller, in her Broadway debut. The delightful Tony-nominated score by Burton Lane (music) and Alan Jay Lerner (lyrics) is enhanced by classics from their film scores for On A Clear Day You Can See Forever (1970) and Royal Wedding (1951). With a new book by Peter Parnell based on the original book by Alan Jay Lerner, the musical is reconceived and directed by Tony Award-winner Michael Mayer, with choreography by JoAnn M. Hunter.
Joining Connick, Turner and Mueller are Kerry O'Malley as Sharone, Drew Gehling as Warren, Sarah Stiles as Muriel, Paul O'Brien, Heather Ayers, Lori Wilner, Benjamin Eakeley, Alex Ellis, KendAl Hartse, Grasan Kingsberry, Tyler Maynard, Zachary Prince, Alysha Umphress, Philip Hoffman, Sean Allan Krill, Patrick O'Neill, and Christianne Tisdale.
The creative team for ON A CLEAR DAY includes two-time Tony Award winner Christine Jones (Sets), five-time Tony Award winner Catherine Zuber (Costumes), three-time Tony Award winner Kevin Adams (Lighting), two-time Tony Award winner Peter Hylenski (Sound), Tom Watson (Hair), Lawrence Yurman (Music Director & Arrangements) and three-time Tony Award winner Doug Besterman (Orchestrations).
Love blooms in unexpected places in the delightfully reimagined world of ON A CLEAR DAY YOU CAN SEE FOREVER. Still in love with his deceased wife, Dr. Mark Bruckner (Harry Connick, Jr.), a dashing psychiatrist and professor, unknowingly takes on the case of his life with David Gamble (David Turner), a quirky young florists' assistant. While putting David under hypnosis to help him quit smoking so he can move in with his perfect boyfriend Warren (David Gehling), Dr. Bruckner stumbles upon what he believes to be David's former self - a dazzling and self-possessed 1940's jazz singer Melinda Wells (Jessie Mueller). Instantly intrigued by Melinda, Dr. Bruckner finds himself swept up in the pursuit of an irresistible (and impossible) love affair with this woman from another time and place, who may or may not have ever existed. Michael Mayer and Peter Parnell's enchanting new version celebrates much of the beloved score from the 1965 musical including the classic hits "Come Back To Me," "What Did I Have That I Don't Have Now?," "She Isn't You," and the titular "On a Clear Day You Can See Forever," while adding songs from the film score such as "Love With All The Trimmings," and "Go To Sleep." Songs from the Lerner and Lane score for the film Royal Wedding such as "Ev'ry Night At Seven," "You're All The World To Me," "Open Your Eyes" and "Too Late Now" complete the landscape for this romantic musical comedy. This production of ON A CLEAR DAY makes the case for living life with your eyes, and heart, wide open.
ON A CLEAR DAY originally opened on Broadway at the Mark Hellinger Theatre on October 17, 1965 and starred Barbara Harris as Daisy Gamble/Melinda Wells and John Cullum as Dr. Mark Bruckner, who both received Tony Award Nominations for their performances, as did the score. In 1970 it was adapted into a film directed by Vincente Minnelli, starring Barbra Streisand as Daisy/Melinda and Yves Montand as Dr. Mark Bruckner.
Following a developmental workshop at The Vineyard Theatre in the fall of 2009, the production received a series of concert readings as part of New York Stage and Film and Vassar's Powerhouse Theater season in the summer of 2010. This past summer, The Vineyard Theatre (108 E. 15 Street) produced a developmental process for the show that culminated in a week-long developmental lab production.
Photo Credit: Walter McBride / Retna Ltd.
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