America will get to know The Witches of Eastwick!

[musicalkid]

Posted: 5/8/06 at 7:58pm

America! check out:
http://www.broadway.com/Gen/Buzz_Story.aspx?ci=529037

Onw of the best new original musicals to open in London in recent years, THE WITCHES OF EASTWICK- is premiering soon in the USA.

a trully cool, sexy, smart, heratfelt and... i don't know... just a great musical!
pray to the devil it's the original London staging, which was Brilliant.

Updated On: 5/8/06 at 07:58 PM

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 5/8/06 at 8:02pm

That's cool. Can the Signature theater handle all the flying I wonder.

[DayDreamer]

Posted: 5/8/06 at 8:11pm

I'll have to plan my semi-annual DC visit around then.

[muscle23ftl]

Posted: 5/8/06 at 9:31pm

well, you mean the stage version!? this is exciting! it's about time for this musical to be seen in the States!

[Eastwickian]

Posted: 5/9/06 at 4:44am

Needless to say, I've started saving my pennies for a trip to the States around June next year...

[All_For_Laura]

Posted: 5/9/06 at 6:49am

That's so exciting! I Love Eastwick!

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 5/9/06 at 8:20am

I'm hoping it doesn't have the London staging, which I felt was weak. The London production had lots of potential, but still needed work. It seemed as if it opened prematurely. I have been hoping this would receive an American production. It should be at the Minskoff or Marquis starring Kevin Kline. With some minoe score changes and a new director, the show could be HUGE.

[tgrabon]

Posted: 5/9/06 at 11:39am

I saw the original London production years ago and I agree with Mr Matt...it needs work. Ian McShane who played the Devil in the London production was trying too hard to be Jack Nicholson. I think Hugh Jackman should play the devil in the Bway production.

[Aaron27]

Posted: 5/9/06 at 11:50am

I'm ecstatic...the London recording rarely, if ever, comes out of my CD player! Hugh Jackman should play the devil and Maria Friedman should be recast!

[doodlenyc]

Posted: 5/9/06 at 11:51am

The Signature Theatre did The Fix several years ago which is by the same creative team, Dana Rowe and John Dempsey...bless 'em!
Love "The Fix", "Zombie Prom" so I expect this will be a hoot!

[Eastwickian]

Posted: 5/9/06 at 12:01pm

I agree it needs work - though I'm not sure that Mr Schaffer is the one that should do it. Having said that, Cameron Mackintosh is notorious for meddling with his productions, so maybe free of his influence it'll become a more focused show...

I found Ian McShane to be pretty awful - both his understudy and replacement were huge improvements. Updated On: 5/9/06 at 12:01 PM

[Eastwickian]

Posted: 10/31/06 at 5:25am

Just thought I'd bump this thread as a reminder that non-subscription tickets are on sale from today! I'm planning to see the show as part of a long road-trip holiday next year - I can hear my credit card softly weeping...

[rosscoe(au)]

Posted: 10/31/06 at 6:11am

One of my favorite shows, make sure you buy a ticket.It's a great fun filled night of theatre.

[Broadway Matt]

Posted: 10/31/06 at 6:28am

LOVED this show in London! It wasn't perfect by any means, but the material is extremely strong by today's Broadway standards- and a creative re-staging could do very well in this country. The Signature is a godsend for bringing these Dempsey/Rowe musicals to the US, their production of THE FIX was fabulous. That's a much better show than EASTWICK so it's a shame that it never really got signicant further exposure. But EASTWICK benefits from name recognition so maybe this will lead somewhere.

I saw it late in the London run, with the excellent Clarke Peters as the devil. Both Lucie and Joanna were still in the cast but Maria Friedman had been replaced by Rebecca Thornhill (which was inconsequential because Sukie has the worst song in the show) Rosemary Ashe was an absolute revelation in her role!

I'm curious to see how they cast this production, the possibilites are endless since the devil isn't a very hard vocal part. I know Alec Baldwin was called in to audition while the show was in workshops, but he's a total non-singer and couldn't even manage that role. The Signature will surely get someone reputable but not anyone major from outside the theatre world. I could see Mark Harelik or Greg Jbara doing a very good job.

[rosscoe(au)]

Posted: 10/31/06 at 6:51am

I love Sukie's song "Words Words Words" one of my Favorites and loves the way Maria sings it.

[All_For_Laura]

Posted: 10/31/06 at 7:02am

^ditto

[Broadway Matt]

Posted: 10/31/06 at 7:15am

Oh I was referring the dreadful "Loose Ends". "Words" is a good song.

[All_For_Laura]

Posted: 10/31/06 at 8:16am

Okay, the lyrics to loose ends are not terrific, but the song is very beautiful and Maria does an awesome job with it!

[algy]

Posted: 10/31/06 at 8:31am

I'm still kicking myself that I didn't see this in London, I adore the cast album which I bought after seeing one of the first amateur productions here in the UK last year. Ian McShane starts to grate after a while, but the others are just brilliant - Rosemary Ashe especially. I love Look at Me and Make Him Mine. Just beautiful.

[Eastwickian]

Posted: 10/31/06 at 8:37am

Broadway Matt: You'll be glad to hear that Loose Ends has been cut from all productions after London and replaced with a brief reprise of Words, which doesn't slow the scene down as much. It was almost replaced with a new song when the second London cast took over but the change was vetoed at the last minute.

I don't suppose anyone knows any cast/crew rumours?

[just_me1981]

Posted: 10/31/06 at 9:05am

I musically directed a production of The WiItches of Eastwick in Australia, and there were many changes made since it opened in London originally.
For example, Loose Ends is cut (and replaced with a brief reprise of Words), and Who's The Man is replaced with The Glory of Me (a big gospel song which fills the same dramatic function). I Love A Little Town and The Eye Of The Beholder are almost re-written, and Something has been seriously trimmed down and is now put towards the end of Act 1. Also, the orchestra was condensed to a 16 peice orchestration and there were many dialogue and lyric changes.
Unfortunately there are still some very clunky moments, but with creative staging they can be overlooked.
And as a side note, the Devil's vocal part is actually quite a sing! I guess they just decided that Ian McShane should speak-sing (for obvious reasons), but the written notes (for example the chorus of I Love A Little Town) require a good technique to be able to sing.

Just thought I'd post my thoughts!
Updated On: 10/31/06 at 09:05 AM

[FrontRowCenter2]

Posted: 10/31/06 at 9:08am

Any speculation as to whether this might make it to New York?

[Ciaron McCarthy]

Posted: 10/31/06 at 9:37am

Saw it in London. It was OK. Friedman was great!! The music is kinda boring.

[mrkringas]

Posted: 10/31/06 at 12:11pm

Earl Carpenter was in glorius vocals throughout this show towards the end of the Lane run.

The score changes are all rather good. Shame they cut Loose Ends though.

[Broadway Matt]

Posted: 10/31/06 at 5:50pm

Thanks for all the info on the changes. They all sound like good ideas. The show was fine as it was but it's always good when the writers continue to be actively try and make it better. Aside from the lyrics, "Loose Ends" maybe wasn't an awful song but it just felt completely out of place and killed the momentum of the show. "Who's The Man" was sort of fun, but I can see why they might have wanted to try something else in its place. Is "Dance With The Devil" still in tact?