COME FALL IN LOVE - THE DDLJ MUSICAL Coming To Broadway During 2022-2023 Season

[jacobsnchz14]

Posted: 10/22/21 at 3:12pm

https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/COME-FALL-IN-LOVE-THE-DDLJ-MUSICAL-Coming-To-Broadway-During-2022-2023-Season-20211022

Yash Raj Films announced today that it will bring its most popular film, Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (DDLJ as it is called throughout India) to the stage in the 2022-23 Broadway season as the new musical Come Fall In Love - The DDLJ Musical.

Come Fall In Love - The DDLJ Musical will play a World Premiere at The Old Globe Theatre in San Diego with an opening night in September 2022.

The film DDLJ premiered in 1995 and is the longest running film of Indian cinema which is still running in theatres.

The creative team will bring together Indian and US based artists. Based on an original story by Chopra, the musical will feature book and lyrics by Nell Benjamin (Legally Blonde, Mean Girls), top Indian songwriters Vishal Dadlani & Shekhar Ravjiani will serve as composers. Tony and Emmy winner Rob Ashford (Frozen, Thoroughly Modern Millie, The Boys from Syracuse) will choreograph with associate choreographer Shruti Merchant. The design team will also include set design by Emmy and Tony Award winner Derek McLane (Moulin Rouge!, Hairspray Live!, 33 Variations) and music supervision by Bill Sherman. Adam Zotovich serves as Executive Producer.

A global casting search begins shortly headed by Duncan Stewart of Stewart/Whitley casting and Yash Raj Films casting head Shanoo Sharma.

Information on the Broadway dates, casting and additional creative team members will be announced at a later date.

Updated On: 10/22/21 at 03:12 PM

[Ke3]

Posted: 10/22/21 at 3:19pm

The title could be better. Come Fall In Love is a very generic title, and "The DDLJ Musical" subtitle feels unnecessary. Either way I'm excited to see Broadway attempt Bollywood again. The director was right about the similarities between the art forms.

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 10/22/21 at 3:24pm

From what I heard, “Bombay Dreams” was not absolutely terrible - it was pleasant, but not thick enough, not compelling.

Good to see Bollywood is getting another shot on the Great Bright Way.

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 10/22/21 at 3:33pm

Will be interesting to see how these varying sensibilities gel together in creating a musical.

I'm also apprehensive of any new show that opens cold on Broadway, especially when the rightsholders and original creators have tight control of the property.

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 10/22/21 at 3:35pm

ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "Will be interesting to see how these varying sensibilities gel together in creating a musical.

I'm also apprehensive of any new show that opens cold on Broadway, especially when the rightsholders and original creators have tight control of the property."

As mentioned above, this show is premiering in San Diego, so it isn’t opening cold on Broadway. It’s okay to be apprehensive though. 

[VintageSnarker]

Posted: 10/22/21 at 5:24pm

ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "Will be interesting to see how these varying sensibilities gel together in creating a musical.

Nell Benjamin is the most confusing choice to me out of all the creatives. Either the tone is more irreverent and comedic than I'm assuming or she'll be demonstrating her range.

[BroadwayNYC2]

Posted: 10/22/21 at 6:27pm

Translating Bollywood to stage is more difficult than it seems because it is so ingrained in the screen format. I hope they can tackle it, but definitely an uphill battle and nobody on this creative team screams success.

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 10/22/21 at 6:32pm

Then why does Bill Sherman keep getting hired? In the last few years alone, he has worked on the film adaptations of “Hamilton,” “In the Heights,” and the upcoming “tick, tick… BOOM!”. He’s also done the return engagement of “Freestyle Love Supreme,” “& Juliet” on the West End, and “Fly” at La Jolla right before the shutdown. Oh, and he’s the music director of a TV show called “Sesame Street,” for which he’s written over 1000 songs so far.

When does the poor guy get to sleep?

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 10/22/21 at 11:55pm

I’ll say it. I’m disappointed there aren’t more Indian and South Asian people in this creative team.

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 10/23/21 at 12:25am

BroadwayNYC2 said: "Translating Bollywood to stage is more difficult than it seems because it is so ingrained in the screen format. I hope they can tackle it, but definitely an uphill battle and nobody on this creative team screams success."

Great points. 

[BroadwayNYC2]

Posted: 10/23/21 at 12:08pm

“ Then why does Bill Sherman keep getting hired”

You misinterpreting a statement? I’m shocked. I meant they don’t scream success for this material, which is so ingrained in said culture and familiarity with the Bollywood formula.

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 10/23/21 at 4:46pm

Hence, they should have more Indian and South Asian creatives, writers, designers, etc.

[BroadwayNYC2]

Posted: 10/24/21 at 8:02pm

Exactly. That should be step one. Otherwise we’re getting some smash season 2 Bollywood nonsense.

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 10/24/21 at 10:04pm

I know there are tons of Bollywood choreographers out there, but they could have gotten someone line Nakul Dev Mahajan, who is known to American audiences as the Bollywood choreographer on So You Think You Can Dance. That show has had so many Broadway crossovers over the years, including our reigning Best Choreography Tony winner.

[everythingtaboo]

Posted: 11/11/21 at 3:57pm

I happened to mention on Diwali eve last Wednesday to my Indian partner that this show was coming to Broadway and shared an article. At the Diwali celebration the next day I saw everyone in his family looking at the article, they were all so excited and asking me to plan their group trip to come up and see it, they all knew the movie so well. I think no matter who's involved, people will be wanting to see it. That said, while it's great to see Aditya Chopra will be directing, I agree it definitely could use some more Indian/South Asian talent. I mean, have they learned nothing about representation the last couple of years?!

[jacobsnchz14]

Posted: 7/13/22 at 11:19am

https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Shoba-Narayan-Austin-Colby-More-to-Star-in-Broadway-Bound-COME-FALL-IN-LOVE-THE-DDLJ-MUSICAL-20220713

Chopra directs a cast of 30, which includes Shoba Narayan as Simran (Broadway's Disney's Aladdin as Princess Jasmine), Austin Colby as Rog Mandel (North American Tour of Disney's Frozen the Musical as Hans, Off-Broadway's Jersey Boys as Bob Gaudio), Irvine Iqbal as Baldev (West End's Disney's Aladdin as The Sultan), Rupal Pujara as Lajjo (Walnut Street Theatre's In the Heights), Vishal Vaidya as Ajit (Encore's Road Show), Siddharth Menon as Kuljt (India's Disney's Aladdin as Aladdin), Kate Loprest as Emily "Minky" Soulard (Broadway's First Date, Hairspray), Juice Mackins as Ben (Broadway's The Prom), Hannah Jewel Kohn as Cookie (North American Tour of Disney's Frozen The Musical), Jeremy Kushnier as Roger Mandel, Sr. (Broadway's Footloose as Ren McCormack, Rent as Roger Davis), Amita Batra as Ensemble (Amit Patel & Ishika Seth's Unearthed: Untold Stories of the Ramayana), Neha Dharmapuram as Ensemble (M.S. in Marketing Intelligence from Fordham University), Tiffany Engen as Ensemble (Broadway's Legally Blonde), Rohit Gijare as Ensemble (Bollywood Blvd at Lincoln Center),Marc Heitzman as Ensemble (Broadway's Bandstand), Usman Ali Ishaq as Ensemble (Signature Theatre's RENT), Nika Lindsay as Ensemble (North American Tour of Disney's Frozen The Musical), Ilda Mason as Ensemble (West Side Story directed by Steven Spielberg), Caleb Mathura as Ensemble (Jesus Christ Superstar at Timber Lake Playhouse), Meher Mistry as Ensemble (India's Disney's Beauty and the Beast as Belle), Shannon Mullen as Ensemble (Broadway's A Bronx Tale), Shahil Patel as Ensemble (Off-Broadway's Fairycakes), Zain Patel as Ensemble (La Jolla Playhouse's Bhangin' It: A Bangin' New Musical), Becca Petersen as Ensemble (Broadway's Mean Girls), Kinshuk Sen as Ensemble (Much Ado About Nothing at UCLA's Shakespeare Theater Company), Jack Sippel as Ensemble (Broadway's The Prom), Michael Starr as Ensemble (First National Tour of Bright Star), Geatali Tampy as Ensemble (Bollywood Blvd at Lincoln Center), and Sonya Venugopal as Ensemble (Musical Theatreworks' Evita.

[KevinKlawitter]

Posted: 7/13/22 at 12:23pm

Pretty cool that there's going to be both Bollywood and KPOP themed musicals on Broadway during the same season.

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 7/13/22 at 12:24pm

Maybe this can take the Barrymore? 

[VintageSnarker]

Posted: 7/13/22 at 4:14pm

Question: Did they change the character of Raj Malhotra to Rog Mandel?

[RippedMan]

Posted: 7/13/22 at 4:36pm

Call_me_jorge said: "Maybe this can take the Barrymore?"

Cast of 30, I'd imagine it's a big show and maybe too big for that space? But who knows until it starts.

[jenn328]

Posted: 7/14/22 at 9:26am

Piano Lesson has been moved to the Barrymore so ITW can extend.

[Valentina3]

Posted: 7/14/22 at 9:34am

VintageSnarker said: "Question: Did they change the character of Raj Malhotra to Rog Mandel?"

Yep. The original movie was supposed to have Tom Cruise in the lead (and not Shah Rukh Khan), before they pivoted the complete storyline. I don't remember the full story, but it was very well publicised at the time and should be easy to find.

[jacobsnchz14]

Posted: 9/1/22 at 10:08am

Performances begin tonight at The Old Globe. 

[bruzson]

Posted: 9/4/22 at 2:24pm

Wow, finally a big, splashy musical that really works and is wonderful!  Great sets, etc. and two star making leads along with terrific dancing.

Thursday's first performance was cancelled as they needed 'more rehearsal time' so we saw the second performance last night.  A 5 minute stop after the opening number due to a recalcitrant lamp post (they would have been in big trouble if this was Me and My Gal or Busker Alley) but it was smooth sailing from then on.

The surprise, somewhat, is that this is NOT a Bollywood musical.  It's a very traditional Broadway musical with excellent cross-cultural influences but it's very much in the old-fashioned format with modern trappings.  The book is quite good and keeps the plot moving well and there's a lot of humor in the show. The lyrics are serviceable but they get the job down.  The music is highly varied -- you won't leave whistling any tunes (maybe the title number or the final song for the female lead) but again, everything serves the show and story quite well.

But you'll want to make sure you see it with the two leads, who should soon become stars, especially the male lead who is a quadruple threat (sings beautifully, dances incredibly, acts well and has great comic timing).

It ran just short of 3 hours so may need a bit of tightening but if this opened on Broadway tomorrow, I think it would be a big hit.

[RippedMan]

Posted: 9/4/22 at 2:38pm

Love to hear more about the sets/designs?