'Dave' the musical (Kitt, Benjamin, Landau, Meehan)

Hiya,

Spoke with Tom Kitt and Nell Benjamin about "Dave," which has its world premiere next month at Arena Stages.

Lots of interesting facets with this one -- stellar creative staff, Thomas Meehan had it in the works when he passed away last year, premiering a musical about the presidency in Washington, D.C., etc.

We had an interesting chat about what all of those things meant, how you can successfully adapt a known franchise (which of course with "Mean Girls" and "SpongeBob," these guys all have very recent experiences with) and why a Kevin Kline comedy is a "beautiful fairy tale."

Plus how often does this sentence come along? "Casey Nicholaw from 'Mean Girls' said he had heard from Eric Idle on 'Spamalot' that ..."

Check it out if you're so inclined: 'Dave' musical bringing beloved comedy to life - with Broadway flair

Anyone planning to see it this summer?

Updated On: 6/18/18 at 05:34 PM

JSquared2 said: "IlanaKeller said:

Plus how often does this sentence come along? "Casey Nicholaw from 'Mean Girls' said he had heard from Eric Idle on 'Spamalot' that ..."


Well, considering Casey choreographedthe original production of Spamalot,I'd imagine it's come along fairly regularly?'

Thanks for spelling that out, had noooooooo idea. I gather you come across it often in conversation?





"

Seeing it in about a month. I HAD no expectations, but I'm such a fan of the creative team that now, I have high hopes. We'll see...

boy, this was a great story and could be a terrific musical

hope they execute well on this one!

Dave28282 said: "Sounds like a great project!"

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I've heard a few songs from this project recently, and found them to be rather dull, both musically and lyrically - the kind of songs that could be written for any narrative. But they may be all changed out of town. I only vaguely remember the movie - yet another take (and far from the most entertaining) on the old Prisoner of Zenda gimmick; I do wonder how they'll make it sing.

$140 per ticket. Nope.

Anyone seeing this tonight?

Going Saturday evening. Just made our pre-theatre dinner reservations. Looking forward to it.

Saw this tonight. I found it totally charming. The cast is pitch perfect. They do miraculous things on a tiny stage. The only quibble for me was the score was just kinda...there. Not bad, but not terribly memorable.

I'd definitely see it again at some point if discount tickets are available, if only to see if anything is changed.

An enjoyable evening overall.

There are screens on stage that are tracked in 2 circles, inner and outer. The cast moves them around to change scenes and there are projections on them to indicate where we are at the moment. There's also an elevator that brings scenery up from under the stage. And some clever staging where Drew Gehling has to change from being Dave to being Bill Mitchell - quickly. I'm interested to see the show, if it transfers, on a bigger stage than this one. It worked so well here.