The year is 1973 and it's all happening. Led Zeppelin is king, Richard Nixon is President, and idealistic 15-year-old William Miller is an aspiring music journalist. When Rolling Stone magazine hires him to go on the road with an up-and-coming band, William is thrust into the rock-and-roll circus, where his love of music, his longing for friendship, and his integrity as a writer collide. Almost Famous is about a young man finding his place in the world and the indelible characters he meets along the way. It's a celebration of community, family, fandom and the power of music.
Like a good old friend, Almost Famous takes you on a trip and brings you home safely. For two hours, I sat back, humming along, grateful I chose to share a profession with greats like Bangs, Fong-Torres, and Miller.
While watching this new stage adaptation of Cameron Crowe's 2000 coming-of-age-on-a-tour-bus film, I couldn't help but wonder what the actual Bangs - the preeminent rock critic of his era obsessed with the anarchic lo-fi danger of the Stooges - would make of being a character in a splashy Broadway musical. It's safe to say he would probably not be a fan. But Bangs might also find himself wondering how a musical all about the love of music could fall so flat when it comes to the actual, you know, music. That is the biggest flaw in an adaptation that faithfully follows the original source material... sometimes a little too faithfully, with entire sections of dialogue and almost every scene and plot point seemingly lifted directly from the original film. In the end, you find yourself wishing that a production about the rebellious world of rock & roll would let its hair down a bit more and take bigger risks instead of playing it safe at almost every turn.
2019 | San Diego, CA (Regional) |
The Old Globe Premiere Production San Diego, CA (Regional) |
2022 | Broadway |
Original Broadway Production Broadway |
Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominee |
---|---|---|---|
2023 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Music | Tom Kitt |
2023 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Sound Design of a Musical | Peter Hylenski |
2023 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Wig and Hair | Campbell Young Associates |
2023 | Theatre World Awards | Theatre World Awards | Casey Likes |
2023 | Tony Awards | Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre | Tom Kitt |
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