It's Official: Kander, Ebb, Stone and Holmes' "Curtains" Will Premiere in Los Angeles
Billed as a pre-Broadway engagement, Curtains — the long-developing Kander & Ebb backstage murder-mystery musical comedy —will have its world premiere this summer at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles.
Center Theatre Group presents the production, which will star David Hyde Pierce (Spamalot, "Frasier") as a show-tune-loving detective, and has a book by Rupert Holmes (The Mystery of Edwin Drood) based on an earlier libretto by Peter Stone. Scott Ellis (Twelve Angry Men, The Little Dog Laughed) will direct the musical, set in 1959 and populated by fictive members of the Broadway theatre community.
The production is bittersweet: Both Stone and lyricist Ebb did not live to see the project in a fully-produced format. Worked continued on the project following their deaths, in 2003 and 2004, respectively.
The Ahmanson announced Jan. 13 that additional lyrics are by Holmes and composer Kander.
The musical comedy will run from mid-July through mid-September 2006, with specific dates to be announced.
Curtains is the second new musical headed for Broadway in artistic director Michael Ritchie's inaugural season at the Ahmanson. Both the critically-acclaimed presentation of The Drowsy Chaperone, which concluded performances in late December 2005, and Curtains "represent a new program initiated by Ritchie in which CTG will present original new musicals and large-scale productions through partnerships with Broadway producers," Center Theatre Group announced.
Curtains marks one of the last collaborations by one of the longest-running songwriting teams in Broadway history — composer Kander and lyricist Ebb (Cabaret, Chicago, Zorba, The Rink, Kiss of the Spider Woman, Woman of the Year). Their The Visit was produced by The Goodman Theatre in Chicago but did not move to a New York run.
Curtains is set in 1959 in Boston at a pre-Broadway tryout of a new musical "where it's literally 'curtains' for the leading lady who dies mysteriously onstage during the applause at the end of the show."
The entire company — the producers, the songwriters, the director, the actors, the stage manager — are possible suspects and each has an motive to be sorted out by a local detective (played by Pierce).
The detective, of course, "is a fervent musical theatre fan, allows the company to continue rehearsing while he conducts his murder investigation," according to CTG. "He soon finds himself in the middle of the uproarious bedlam of theatrical egos and eccentricities, more murders and even a budding love affair."
"It's an engaging and wildly comic romp," stated Ritchie. "As a backstage musical comedy, I find it irresistible, and as a mystery, I know it will keep the audience guessing right up to the end. It will be a great summer treat for Los Angeles."
Rupert Holmes won three Tony Awards in 1986 for his Broadway musical The Mystery of Edwin Drood, and from 1996 to 1999 he was the creator and writer of the television series "Remember WENN" on American Movie Classics.
Peter Stone, who died in 2003, won three Tony Awards for his librettos for Titanic, Woman of the Year and 1776. !
Saw the reading of this a few weeks ago with David Hyde Pierce, Debra Monk and Edward Hibbert in key roles. It's delightful, the score is fun, and the humor directed at the theatre itself is hilarious, without being overly nasty.
Begin at the beginning and go on till you come to the end: then stop.
I'm dying to see this. I had a friend in the most recent presentation and it was so packed with industry people that she couldn't invite anyone. I do hope it has a life here.
Have I ever shown you my Shattered Dreams box? It's in my Disappointment Closet. - Marge Simpson
This sounds like a great show. And I am so glad that DHP is starting to make a name for himself on Broadway. Apart from being talented he is very nice, and very funny off screen.
David walked into the valley
With a stone clutched in his hand
He was only a boy
But he knew someone must take a stand
There will always be a valley
Always mountains one must scale
There will always be perilous waters
Which someone must sail
-Into the Fire
Scarlet Pimpernel
Wow us in LA are starting to get lucky. First Sutton Foster in the Drowsy Chaperone and now Curtains -- DHP and Kander & EBB! I am definitely seeing this.
"I wish the stage were as narrow as the wire of a tightrope dancer, so that no incompetent would dare step upon it." Goethe
The role in Curtains is a really good fit for Hyde-Pierce's deadpan style. Very glad that he's following up his run in Spamalot with another potential Broadway musical.
Begin at the beginning and go on till you come to the end: then stop.
Plus, Deb Monk (as the Fran Weissler-inspired producer in Curtains) brought down the house at the recent reading with her Act Two number, "It's a Business".
Begin at the beginning and go on till you come to the end: then stop.
Mmmhh..maybe LA can finally get respect from the East Coasters on this board.
"It does what a musical is supposed to do; it takes you to another world. And it gives you a little tune to carry in your head. Something to take you away from the dreary horrors of the real world. A little something for when you're feeling blue. You know?"
Will Debra Monk be part of the LA run? I definitely hope this is not the last of Kander and Ebb we see, there's still The Visit and Skin of Our Teeth. I truly hope John Kander finds someone to help him work on the lyrics that need to be re-written or tweaked. "Curtains" sound like if it's done well, it could end up being a lot of fun. Doesn't sound like a masterpiece like Cabaret or Chicago, though. We'll see what comes out of it.
"Some people can thrive and bloom living life in a living room, that's perfect for some people of one hundred and five. But I at least gotta try, when I think of all the sights that I gotta see, all the places I gotta play, all the things that I gotta be at"
In the Playbill story, it mentions that Rupert Holmes assisted Kander with some new lyrics. But the reading featured a complete score, so I imagine that Holmes will just continue to help Kander with any further rewrites.
Begin at the beginning and go on till you come to the end: then stop.
I'm very happy for David Hyde Pierce. He only started taking singing lesson about 8 years ago...and not being a naturally talented singer, he has worked extremely hard on his singing. The first musical he did was "Boys in Syracuse" in LA with Chris Sieber and Lea DeLaria and his singing has greatly improved since then.
"It does what a musical is supposed to do; it takes you to another world. And it gives you a little tune to carry in your head. Something to take you away from the dreary horrors of the real world. A little something for when you're feeling blue. You know?"
.gif?width=300)
