BroadwayWorld has a first look at the The Old Globe's world premiere musical Almost Famous, with book and lyrics by Academy Award winner and San Diego native Cameron Crowe (films Jerry Maguire, Say Anything..., Fast Times at Ridgemont High).
Almost Famous features songs that span the range from classic hits to new songs, with original music and lyrics by Pulitzer Prize and two-time Tony Award winner Tom Kitt (Next to Normal, American Idiot, The SpongeBob Musical). Based on the Paramount Pictures and Columbia Pictures motion picture written by Crowe, Almost Famous is directed by Tony Award nominee Jeremy Herrin (Noises Off, Wolf Hall, National Theatre Live's All My Sons) and presented by special arrangement with Lia Vollack, Joey Parnes, Sue Wagner, and John Johnson.
Performances run now through October 27, 2019 on the Donald and Darlene Shiley Stage in the Old Globe Theatre, part of the Conrad Prebys Theatre Center, with opening night on Friday, September 27 at 8:00 p.m. Single tickets start at $70.00. Tickets can be purchased online at www.TheOldGlobe.org, by phone at (619) 23-GLOBE, or by visiting the Box Office at 1363 Old Globe Way in Balboa Park.
The multiple award-winning design team, with a combined 11 Tony Awards and 32 Tony nominations, includes choreographer Lorin Latarro (Globe's The Heart of Rock & Roll, Broadway and West End's Waitress), scenic designer Derek McLane (Tony and San Diego Theatre Critics Circle Craig Noel Awards for 33 Variations, multiple Emmy, Drama Desk, and Lortel Awards, two Obie Awards for Sustained Achievement); costume designer David Zinn (two Tony Awards, for The Humans and SpongeBob SquarePants); lighting designer Natasha Katz (Springsteen on Broadway, Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune, All My Sons, Burn This, The Prom, Frozen; six Tony Awards, for Long Day's Journey Into Night, An American in Paris, The Glass Menagerie, Once, The Coast of Utopia, and Aida); sound designer Peter Hylenski (Grammy, Olivier, seven-time Tony Award nominee, including for Beetlejuice and King Kong in 2019), Tom Kitt (Orchestrations and Arrangements; Next to Normal received the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and two Tony Awards), Bryan Perri (Music Director), AnnMarie Milazzo (Vocal Designer; Spring Awakening, Next to Normal, If/Then, and Finding Neverland), Daniel Green (Associate Music Director), Campbell Young Associates (Hair, Wig, and Makeup Design; King Lear, Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Waverly Gallery), Jim Carnahan, CSA and Jillian Cimini, CSA (Casting), and Anjee Nero (Production Stage Manager).
"Everyone at the Globe is hugely excited to welcome an uncommonly gifted company to Balboa Park for what we know will be the musical theatre event of the season," said Erna Finci Viterbi Artistic Director Barry Edelstein. "Cameron Crowe, Tom Kitt, and Jeremy Herrin have assembled a group of actors blessed with extraordinary talent and incendiary energy, and together they will transform a beloved movie-which is also, of course, a local San Diego tale-into an unforgettable new work for the American stage. I am proud to have Almost Famous at this theatre, and I'm looking forward to sharing it with our audiences."
Almost Famous at The Old Globe is supported in part through a gift from Production Sponsors Terry Atkinson and Kathy Taylor, Peter Cooper and Erik Matwijkow, Elaine and Dave Darwin, Una Davis and Jack McGrory, HM Electronics, Inc., Darlene Marcos Shiley, Viasat, and Sheryl and Harvey White; as well as Artist Sponsors Ellise and Michael Coit (for Colin Donnell, who plays Russell Hammond), Arlene and Richard Esgate (for Solea Pfeiffer, who plays Penny Lane), and Mandell Weiss Charitable Trust (for composer, lyricist, orchestrator, and arranger Tom Kitt). Gibson is proud to be the official guitar sponsor of Almost Famous. Financial support is provided by The City of San Diego.
