Roman Holiday Previews- Page 6

[JBroadway]

Posted: 6/14/17 at 3:02pm

bk said: "I don't live on my phone (or my computer, for that matter) like you and others apparently do, so no I have no idea what istaverse is nor do I care - I don't app my phone to death - I only use it to - now wait here - make and receive occasional calls and not much of that, frankly.  I'll check out things occasionally on the phone, Internet-wise, but who has time for all this crap - not me.  A little too busy for that.  I wish you well, however, with your istaverse.  :)"

 

Dude, you're ON THE INTERNET RIGHT NOW. How can you come to the internet and then aggressively criticize people for using internet-related words? You wouldn't go to London and tell people to stop saying "trousers" just because you don't spend a lot of time in England. 

 

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 6/14/17 at 3:14pm

Not to mention BWW and Gothamist are around the same age, so not sure how that became part of his argument...

[BakerWilliams]

Posted: 6/14/17 at 6:40pm

bk is once again testing the limits of how obnoxious a single person on the internet can be

[Wayman_Wong]

Posted: 6/16/17 at 6:32pm

Playbill.com has a preview of the ''Broadway-bound'' ''Roman Holiday'' that says the plan is to bring it to NYC in the fall. Here's an interview with producer/co-bookwriter Paul Blake. (Naturally, no mention of its less-than-rapturous reviews in San Francisco.)

http://www.playbill.com/article/what-to-expect-from-broadway-bound-roman-holiday

Updated On: 6/16/17 at 06:32 PM

[bk]

Posted: 6/16/17 at 7:09pm

And you are?  You have NO idea how obnoxious I can be, chum, NO idea.  I don't think it is I who is testing the waters, it's you.  What other purpose does your post, intended to provoke, serve?  And you are?

[UncleCharlie]

Posted: 6/16/17 at 7:16pm

Wayman_Wong said: "Playbill.com has a preview of the ''Broadway-bound'' ''Roman Holiday'' that says the plan is to bring it to NYC in the fall. Here's an interview with producer/co-bookwriter Paul Blake. (Naturally, no mention of its less-than-rapturous reviews in San Francisco.)

http://www.playbill.com/article/what-to-expect-from-broadway-bound-roman-holiday

 

At some point, you have to wonder what the producers see as the purpose of this out of town tryout when they seem to not have changed anything of significance and appear to have basically ignored the critical feedback. It's not my money so they can do what they want but it just makes you wonder.

 

[broadwaysfguy]

Posted: 6/16/17 at 8:08pm

why is this going to broadway?

Paul Blake, producer and book writer, loves Cole Porter, and has loved Cole Porter most of his life (he mentions listening to cole records in the 1970s), and wants to put a Cole Porter Musical on Broadway and fulfill a 20 year plus dream (i assume the dream vision pre-dates the muny production in 2001.  If Beautiful had NOT been a huge success, I doubt there would have ever been another presentation of this show. 

Beautiful has grossed around $200 million in ticket sales alone, and continues pumping $800K a week, so Blake is playing with house money and then some at this point. Other co-producers are likely hoping Blake and director Bruni will re-create some of the financial success of Beautiful, which pretty much everyone on this thread agrees won't happen.

Why a preview if no big changes?

The show was updated and changed significantly from 2012, including a completely different cast, director, script re-write and some new songs, so it would make sense to have an out of town tryout and shakedown of the new team, sets and material.  

They are surveying every ticket buyer who buys online, so maybe they are seeing something in the consumer feedback that has made them comfortable in the material as presented, or they know they are opening in early fall vs late and are focusing on minor tweaks and changes. 

I wouldn't invest money in this production, but I'm glad its being done with the caveat that I agree with many it would have been really interesting to see what a few great songwriters could have done with an original score..

[kuhset]

Posted: 6/16/17 at 8:48pm

I saw it in San Francisco and loved it. It did help that I love the 1953 film, as well as the cast. I'm just wondering what theatre would be a good fit for it if/when it moves to Broadway + what would even be open in the fall for it? 

I don't usually see shows in SF & so am wondering if it's typical for them to not release a b-roll? It seems like most of this show's production photos have come from the cast's instagrams/social media, rather than SHN itself. 

Updated On: 6/16/17 at 08:48 PM

[broadwaysfguy]

Posted: 6/17/17 at 12:29pm

last three shows this weekend for those Cole Porter or Roman Holiday fans in the SF bay area that may want to catch Roman Holiday, the Musical...I'm wavering and will probably catch the matinee this afternoon...

[broadwaysfguy]

Posted: 6/17/17 at 9:25pm

Got my Cole Fix one last time before the show closes. No substantive changes since opening night. Jarrod Spector was out and and the understudy (who normally plays the head of security for the princess) had far better comedic timing and a more thoughtful interpretation of "Night and Day". Today was the matinee audience, a much older crowd than I see in the evening, and they had a great time and few people near me were singing along to the Cole Porter songs....

I happened to be sitting next to a very close friend of one of the two principals. His insider scoop:

The theatre is booked already in New York, and the producers expectation is September/October previews, and the exact start date is still subject to the closing date of the show they are replacing.

This friends also told me he thought they would be doing more changes to the show before New York based on the feedback they've gotten.  I asked how big the planned changes are, and he said he didnt know, other than that the cast was planning to be retained to work on the show until New York.

The producers goal(that they are telling the cast)  is a limited NYC run (six months) and not "trying for any Tony's"  (whatever that means) and then get it out on tour, where they believe there are more legs and demand for a longer run for this show and the combined appeal of the movie and Cole Porter.

I also noticed the sale at concessions was very brisk, for everything from the Roman Holiday poster, to the t-shirt, to the mugs, key-chains and other stuff. Based on the tour strategy to generate a profit for this show, I think they will likely do a cast recording, which would be great. 


 

 

 

Updated On: 6/17/17 at 09:25 PM

[sorano916]

Posted: 6/17/17 at 10:04pm

broadwaysfguy said: "Got my Cole Fix one last time before the show closes. No substantive changes since opening night. Jarrod Spector was out and and the understudy (who normally plays the head of security for the princess) had far better comedic timing and a more thoughtful interpretation of "Night and Day". Today was the matinee audience, a much older crowd than I see in the evening, and they had a great time and few people near me were singing along to the Cole Porter songs...."

 

Andrew Kober was on for Irving. He hadn't had a put-in so it was his very first time ever in the role all the way through. It was my first time seeing it so I don't know how Jarrod is as Irving but I thought Andrew was great. There was one line flub/switch that I noticed (while Irving and Joe were going through the photos, Andrew said the Trevi Fountain instead of Mouth of Truth first which made Drew said Mouth of Truth instead of Trevi Fountain), but other than that and a couple of lighting cues with the flash for the camera, I thought he spot on, which is admirably considering it was the third-to-last show and he probably thought he was never going to go on. Kober's a trooper and I've thought well of him since I saw him in "Hair".

 

"Roman Holiday" is one of my favorite films and while I know the name Cole Porter, I wasn't familiar with a lot of songs. It wasn't earth-shattering, but it was delightful. I honestly think that they could have made it into a one act show, though. Talking to a couple of cast members afterwards, there are still lots of planned changes that will take place before it lands on Broadway so I look forward to what those changes will be. 

[VintageSnarker]

Posted: 6/18/17 at 12:12pm

Just curious... what is the history of intellectual property that gets one Broadway adaptation and then another by a different creative team trying to get it right or do it their own way? I don't mean something like the two competing Wild Parties. I mean like someone trying to make another musical about Eva Peron or based on Doctor Zhivago or War and Peace now. 

I guess I'm saying, could we ever get a Roman Holiday musical with original music?

[bwayrose7]

Posted: 6/18/17 at 1:06pm

VintageSnarker said: "Just curious... what is the history of intellectual property that gets one Broadway adaptation and then another by a different creative team trying to get it right or do it their own way? I don't mean something like the two competing Wild Parties. I mean like someone trying to make another musical about Eva Peron or based on Doctor Zhivago or War and Peace now. 

I guess I'm saying, could we ever get a Roman Holiday musical with original music?

I believe the key factor is whether or not the original work is in the public domain. War and Peace is, so I assume it would be fair game (see: multiple miniseries adaptations). Historical events are also fair game, although any creator would have to prove their work is substantially different from its predecessor to avoid infringement claims. A musical about Eva Peron could, theoretically, exist, but would have to be about a different part of her life, have her not be the protagonist, or some other substantially different angle from Evita.

 Roman Holiday, however, is not a public domain work, so I assume there would be serious underlying rights issues with trying to do a different version. It would be one thing if the show was overhauled during the development process but was still controlled by the same rights holders (like Finding Neverland), but not a totally different property. The rights to adapt the underlying property (the film) belong to this production, and such contracts are generally exclusive.

[JBroadway]

Posted: 6/18/17 at 1:07pm

VintageSnarker said: "Just curious... what is the history of intellectual property that gets one Broadway adaptation and then another by a different creative team trying to get it right or do it their own way? I don't mean something like the two competing Wild Parties. I mean like someone trying to make another musical about Eva Peron or based on Doctor Zhivago or War and Peace now. 

I guess I'm saying, could we ever get a Roman Holiday musical with original music?"

 

I'm a bit confused. How is the Wild Party situation different from the hypothetical second Roman Holiday musical, other than the timing? I think it could happen. In addition to Wild Party, I feel like there have been several examples of more than one musical based on the same source material. Peter Pan and Phantom of the Opera immediately come to mind, as well as "Buona Sera, Mrs. Campbell" which inspired both Mamma Mia and Carmelina. 

EDIT: Just read the response above mine, which is better and more detailed. Seems to me, though, that a second Eva Peron musical wouldn't necessarily have to be that different in terms of focus, would it? If all the true-to-life events from Evita were put into a new musical,  who could complain, since they were based on true events? 

Also, it's worth noting that Peter Pan is not in the public domain. Not to discount what bwayrose saying. Just pointing out an example where it did happen. 
 

Updated On: 6/18/17 at 01:07 PM

[broadwaysfguy]

Posted: 6/30/17 at 11:01pm

i even miss Roman Holiday..

new yorkers are so lucky to have all the amazing shows just a few steps or subway stations away...

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 9/7/17 at 11:53am

Does Roman Holiday have a Broadway theatre lined up yet or are they planning on another tryout before coming in?

[kuhset]

Posted: 9/7/17 at 11:54am

In an interview, Drew was asked about the future of RH, and his response was: 

"We'll see how that pans out. I think they're, like everybody else, waiting on a theater. In the meantime, it's just cool to be a part of the continued process of a new show. Like more readings, more workshops, stuff you can do to know what your show is before you show up."

So, hopefully we'll see it soon! 

Updated On: 9/7/17 at 11:54 AM

[newintown]

Posted: 9/7/17 at 12:14pm

Isn't "waiting for a theatre" code for "we don't have the money?"

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 10/13/18 at 12:44am

Is this show dead?

[antonijan]

Posted: 10/13/18 at 5:10am

There were some readings in London and now in China..

Maybe they are still improving the production?

[Fan123]

Posted: 10/13/18 at 5:34pm

If anyone's interested, there's a bit more information about a Shanghai reading here (Chinese-language article):

http://www.sohu.com/a/258927060_100004574/?pvid=00115_3w_a



(Although, judging from the comments here on the San Francisco run, I wouldn't personally mind if this was dead.)

[Sho-Tunes-R-Us]

Posted: 10/14/18 at 1:27am

Intriguing. I certainly thought it was dead here in the US.

[antonijan]

Posted: 10/14/18 at 5:00am

Life after death

[Fan123]

Posted: 2/10/20 at 3:26am

This thread is mostly about the Cole Porter jukebox musical, but if anyone's interested, one of the Japanese musical adaptations of the film is being revived in Japan later this year. (Possibly this is the same version from which another person posted a video, a few pages/years back.) This one has music by Michiru Oshima and lyrics by Yuki Saito.

https://kindantheatre.com/musicals/list/tokyo/2020/15#st-toc-h-4

https://www.tohostage.com/romanholiday/

The below might be a past cast recording of the same version... I'm not sure. From listening to a few snippets, it seems to have a nice old-fashioned romantic sort of sound.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQI-mUHGFmy9Qbs7s4cABd6jlHP4WKEjl

(The Cole Porter version is also going to London, but personally I've pretty much lost interest in that version!)

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 2/10/20 at 11:17am

I’d given up on this one. Nice to know it’s still kicking.