Standing at the Sky's Edge coming to Broadway?

[Broadway Flash]

Posted: 2/28/24 at 10:27pm

Bob Wankel and his team at the show recently in London.  They were enraptured, and left merry.

Deadline

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 2/28/24 at 10:46pm

Look. This was hands down my favorite show of last year, out of everything I saw. But I think a Broadway transfer is a baaaad idea. It's a VERY British show set in Sheffield that's literally described as "A Love Letter To Sheffield". I'd guess not even 1% of an audience here would get any of the references - I say this as someone who obviously spends a lot of time over there and even I didn't pick up on a lot of the references at first.

It's also a MASSIVE show, both cast and set. That means with the dynamics of Broadway, this would have to have to sell exceptionally well in a large theater. I just don't see that ever happening. 

But like always - I could be dead wrong. 

[Dylan Smith4]

Posted: 2/28/24 at 10:46pm

This is another show that I am not sure American audiences would particularly understand. It's a very British show. Just like Operation Mincemeat. 

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 2/28/24 at 11:27pm

This wasn't even on my radar until right now.

FWIW, looks like it has 32 in the cast (incl swings & youths) and 8 in the band –– so not terribly huge by modern Broadway standards. Can't speak for the set.

The Britishness could be a bigger concern unless it's a truly universal story.

[Broadway Flash]

Posted: 2/28/24 at 11:29pm

There’s what the show is about and then what it’s about.  People will relate to the themes, enjoy the music, and performances.  I haven’t seen it but I adore the cast recording.

[Brave Sir Robin2]

Posted: 2/29/24 at 1:09am

A limited run, or a run with a non-profit, could be an option. How would this fare staging-wise at the Beaumont?

[inception]

Posted: 2/29/24 at 2:35am

Or just do an Americanized version set in Pittsburgh or somewhere 

[BoringBoredBoard40]

Posted: 2/29/24 at 2:41am

this would do well at Lincoln Center

[Broadway Flash]

Posted: 2/29/24 at 3:20am

I’m sure it could be restaged for any theatre, but it does seem like the Beaumont is the only theatre on Broadway where it could be done just like they did at the National.  But I’m assuming they’re planning on doing a revival of a classic musical next year which I guess is where Shubert comes in. Didn’t someone say that The Motive and the Cue was trying to come to Broadway and do it with a non profit?  I’m sure The Hills of California will be coming in at some point. And what happened to Dear England?

[blaxx]

Posted: 2/29/24 at 3:40am

inception said: "Or just do an Americanized version set in Pittsburgh or somewhere"

This is what disappointed me most about this show.

It really could be adapted to take place in any modern city. I thought I'd get the history of Sheffield, and I got the story of any place in development out there.

The music was great but that book was fluff. Oh well.

[RippedMan]

Posted: 2/29/24 at 8:34am

I loved this and I was only grasping like 5% of the references but it doesn’t really matter. Throw some definitions in the playbill and it’ll be fine. I think it would only work at the Beaumont. And I think it would be a nice prestige piece for Lincoln Center. And I don’t think they need to change the location. It’s very much tied to Sheffield through the composer and creatives and there’s a neon sign that says “I love you, will u marry me” that is on a bridge in Sheffield. It might be a risk but again the universal themes are all the same. I laughed, I cried. 

[chrishuyen]

Posted: 2/29/24 at 11:23am

I had asked a British theater group before going to the show if there would be anything that I as an American would need to know, and they just vaguely mentioned things about the coal miners' strike and generational tensions, but said there wasn't anything major.  Turns out, I felt pretty lost in the first half and was desperately googling at interval to try to keep up (I didn't realize that one of the elections mentioned was for Thatcher, or which war it was, or even that the Park Hill apartments were a notable apartment complex--also didn't know what "being listed" meant).  There were also just moments where it was unclear to me what exactly had happened, and I wasn't sure if that was because I had some slight trouble keeping up with the accents, whether there was some specific reference I missed, or if it was just the writing itself that wasn't clear.  Granted, you can still get a perfectly lovely story without knowing the full context, but I think if it were to come to Broadway it would need substantial rewrites to not leave the audience feeling like they're missing out on an inside joke (which I felt many times).

There's also the matter of "will it sell?" It seems like the album and artist that the songs come from are much more well-known in the UK (I hadn't heard of either of them at all before) so I don't think that would be a huge selling point in the way that Bob Dylan was for Girl from the North Country, and I can't imagine "a multigenerational story about an apartment complex in Sheffield, England" would necessarily generate as much interest either.  And while other shows have had hyper-specific in-jokes before, it was also with the assumption that there would be a certain percentage of the audience that was guaranteed to get it (like some of the Broadway jokes in The Prom), and I'm not sure there would really be much or any of the audience on Broadway that would fully grasp the Sheffield-specific references on a nightly basis.

That said, I don't actually think things like the set would be a huge issue.  Yes the set as it was on the West End is quite large, but I think there could easily be a scaled down version of the set as well.  Most of the utilized space in the set really came down to an upper level and an outline on the floor, which could be done in almost any theater (though a bigger one would be preferable just to give a better sense of scale).

[RippedMan]

Posted: 2/29/24 at 1:27pm

Yeah it's a static set in that nothing really moves on and off, so it could probably be modified. 

The only part that confused me is when they kept joking about a "cardo?" But all the other stuff to me felt like you didn't need a huge knowledge. I mean, we get that a strike is happening, we get that they flipped apartments and kicked out some people. I don't think you really need to know the nitty gritty to get gripped by the characters. At least, I didn't. 

[uncageg]

Posted: 2/29/24 at 10:46pm

I just listened to the cast recording while cooking and eating dinner. Loved every moment of it.

 

[lopside]

Posted: 3/1/24 at 8:06am

This has very beautiful Richard Hawley songs that integrate very well with the story, unlike most jukeboxes. The book isn't quite as great as it can be, but it flows together as a show very well. 

[inception]

Posted: 3/1/24 at 9:59am

Google is no help, what does "being listed" mean?

I get either a person being listed as a sex offender or a building being listed as a heritage site.

[RippedMan]

Posted: 3/1/24 at 10:39am

Renting the apartments.

[BJR]

Posted: 3/1/24 at 11:03am

The Anglophilia on Bway will never cease to amuse me.

Not a comment on this show in particular, of course.

[whatever2]

Posted: 3/1/24 at 11:08am

not gonna swear to it, but i'm pretty sure "listed" refers to the complex's status as a heritage building. Wikipedia says the actual building is grade II listed.

[Famebroadway2]

Posted: 3/1/24 at 11:16am

Billy Elliot was a very British show and it did well. A good show is a good show. 

[chrishuyen]

Posted: 3/1/24 at 11:48am

whatever2 said: "not gonna swear to it, but i'm pretty sure "listed" refers to the complex's status as a heritage building. Wikipedia says the actual building is grade II listed."

Yeah, I think "being listed" in the context of this show was referring to this (one of the characters was upset about it iirc).

lopside said: "This has very beautiful Richard Hawley songs that integrate very well with the story, unlike most jukeboxes. The book isn't quite as great as it can be, but it flows together as a show very well. "

Interesting you say that because I'd say the songs aren't really integrated at all into the story.  It takes more of a Girl from the North Country approach, where the songs don't advance the plot or anything, but merely give voice to what the characters are thinking or feeling (though in that sense, I do think the songs are better integrated than GFTNC).

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 3/1/24 at 11:54am

The songs (to me) have the same effect as underscoring in a film do. They don’t really push anything forward but serve to convey emotion, if that makes sense. I listen to the cast recording all the time and absolutely love it. 

[VirginiaK]

Posted: 3/2/24 at 8:55pm

I also loved the show in London last year and really agree with you, and I thought about it at the time -- even though I am a serious Anglophile, I only understood a lot of it because I was lucky enough to be sitting next to a kind stranger who was a British modern history guy who could explain things nicely to me in the Intermission. 

If it's going to come here, it belongs at St Ann's I would say, or maybe the Public or the Armory.

[Owen22]

Posted: 3/2/24 at 9:25pm

Dylan Smith4 said: "This is another show that I am not sure American audiences would particularly understand. It's a very British show. Just like Operation Mincemeat."

I think Operation Mincemeat with it's very talented original cast would kill on broadway,  And make some of its cast stars.

I did not love Sky's Edge personally, though its a completely competent show. But, unlike Mincemeat, there is no need, nor any commercial viability for a transfer.

[VirginiaK]

Posted: 3/2/24 at 10:23pm

inception said: "Or just do an Americanized version set in Pittsburgh or somewhere"

I suppose you could, but I learned from people sitting near me at the National that the apartment complex where it all takes place (3 generations of inhabitants -- not related -- of the same flat, post-War to the present day) was a well-known successful progressive proejct, well-designed modern good housing for working class people, in particular from the steel mills; and that the closing of the mills in the Thatcher era of course had a huge effect -- negative -- on the once-vital Sheffield.  So I think the historical and political infrastructure of the whole thing is automatically understood by the British audience.  As I remember the show, I remember it almost as a mood piece -- I remember the changing moods of the thing.

So likelier would be finding a way to provide the exposition if it's going to come here,  If it was a movie I'd use a voice-over and not care about it being retro.