Musical Adaptation of EMPIRE RECORDS - News & Discussion Thread

[jacobsnchz14]

Posted: 12/7/21 at 11:57am

Empire Records: The Musical will receive a private industry reading helmed by Obie Award-winning director Trip Cullman(Choirboy) on December 7, 2021 at Roundabout Studios in NYC. The musical features original music and lyrics by Jonathan Larson Grant winner Zoe Sarnak, and a book by the film's screenwriter Carol Heikkinen (Center Stage),

The cast of the reading features Tony Award nominee Kathryn Gallagher (Jagged Little Pill, Deaf End's Spring Awakening), Drew Gehling (Waitress, Jersey Boys), Drama Desk Award nominee Rebecca Naomi Jones(Oklahoma!, American Idiot), Lorna Courtney (Dear Evan Hansen, West Side Story), Hilary Fisher (Cyrano, Pamela's First Musical), Ilan Eshkenazi (Sing Street), newcomer Brody Grant, De'Lon Grant (Come From Away), Veronica Otim (Jagged Little Pill), J Daughtry (Ain't Too Proud, The Color Purple), Sam Poon (Sing Street, The King and I), Eric Weigand (Plaza Suite), Gabe Violett (Spring Awakening), and Ashley Perez Flanagan (Freestyle Love Supreme, ...The Great Comet of 1812). The reading has music direction by Grammy Award Nominee Bryan Perri, casting by Stephen Kopel & Carrie Gardner, and stage management by Narda E. Alcorn.

[PipingHotPiccolo]

Posted: 12/7/21 at 12:04pm

Trip Cullman, RNJ, Kathryn Allison, Drew Gehling-- take my money now.

[OuttaTowner]

Posted: 12/8/21 at 2:47am

Any insider reports on this?  I watched this film a crazy amount of times growing up, so have a soft spot for the source material. Wondering if they intermix original songs with period recorded works?

[OuttaTowner]

Posted: 12/8/21 at 2:47am

Any insider reports on this?  I watched this film a crazy amount of times growing up, so have a soft spot for the source material. Wondering if they intermix original songs with period recorded works?

[VintageSnarker]

Posted: 12/8/21 at 6:31am

I wasn't that crazy about the movie but I've been hoping for a Zoe Sarnak project to take off. Some great names in the cast for this reading. 

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 12/8/21 at 7:06am

This excites me. Happy to hear Heikkinen is doing the book but that score had better have that early/mid 90s feel or the fans are gonna riot. 

[Lunalaaaaaaaa]

Posted: 12/9/21 at 5:58pm

Amazing news!! Wouldn't Drew Gehling be busy with Almost Famous though? 

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 12/9/21 at 6:02pm

Lunalaaaaaaaa said: "Amazing news!! Wouldn't Drew Gehling be busy with Almost Famous though?"

^ Same with music director Bryan Perri

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 12/9/21 at 6:02pm

Nope, this is just a reading. And he is not confirmed to be in Almost Famous anyways. 

[dramamama611]

Posted: 12/10/21 at 6:18am

I wasn't a huge fan of the film...but can totally see this being musicalized.

[OuttaTowner]

Posted: 12/11/21 at 12:30pm

Disappointed that none of our chatters have any “sources” who were at the reading. Would love to know how it fared - and who played Rex Manning! 😆

[jacobsnchz14]

Posted: 3/7/24 at 5:34pm

https://www.playbill.com/article/empire-records-musical-to-make-world-premiere-at-new-jerseys-mccarter

[jacobsnchz14]

Posted: 7/25/24 at 2:48pm

jacobsnchz14 said: "https://www.playbill.com/article/empire-records-musical-to-make-world-premiere-at-new-jerseys-mccarter"

https://www.theatermania.com/news/lorna-courtney-damon-daunno-to-lead-empire-records-the-musical-at-mccarter-theatre-center_1745993

[Owen22]

Posted: 7/25/24 at 4:07pm

I'm so happy for Damon Duanno, after being so underused in a small role in The Lonely Few!

[KevinKlawitter]

Posted: 7/25/24 at 4:53pm

Liam Pearce! Very nice.

[DiscoCrows]

Posted: 9/7/24 at 5:52pm

This began previews! Would love thoughts if anyone makes it out to the McCarter in the coming weeks.

[kurtal]

Posted: 9/7/24 at 9:26pm

I'll be there tomorrow.  Will report!

[kurtal]

Posted: 9/9/24 at 9:50am

I saw yesterday's matinee performance. I'm going to put much of the information behind a spoiler break just in case.  Pre-show, the director said it was the third preview, and they're still doing a lot of work on the show.  

Overall, I enjoyed it.  It hit a lot of the beats of the movie while cutting a handful of the extraneous plotlines.  The score has a lot of mid-'90s rock vibes -- several songs had a strong Alanis Morissette vibe to them.  There were a lot of ballads, and I think there's a lot of work to do to bringing both variety and cohesion to the score.  Several of the songs felt very similar, and Corey and Gina's musical identities in particular would really benefit from some differentiation.  The show has a good amount of potential.

 

Click Here To Toggle Spoiler Content

Song list: 

Prologue - Company
Welcome to the Empire - Company
Another Hometown Story - Gina and Company
One Thirty-Seven [Part 1] - AJ and Company
The Future Generation - Gina, Corey, AJ, Mark, Lucas, and Company
Our Son the Criminal - Corey, AJ, and Company
Rex Manning Day - Corey, Rex, and Company
Who I Am and Who I Was - Max, Joe, and Rex
One Thirty-Seven [Part 2] - AJ
Cover Me With Sound - Lucas, Corey, Gina, Mark, AJ, Debra, and Warren
Scissors - Debra
Girls Like Me - Gina and Corey
Real Life - Corey
Words are Right, Words are Wrong - AJ, Corey, Mark, Lucas, Joe, and Max
Cover Me With Sound (Reprise) - Gina, Debra, AJ, Lucas, Mark, Corey, Joe, and Max
We Ain't Leaving When the Lights Go Out - Debra and Company
One Thirty-Seven [Part 3] - Corey and AJ
Here - Company

Major plot differences from the movie:

- Joe is already the owner of Empire Records but is having financial difficulty, hence the potential franchise agreement with Music Town

- No reference to drug usage by Corey.  Her college plans aren't in question -- she already has a scholarship to NYU.

- Debra's boyfriend Berko doesn't exist

- Once Warren is caught, he just stays -- no exit and return with a gun

- Gina has a full new storyline about having saved for college and then having the money stolen by her addict mom. Gina's future is very much the strongest thru line of the show.

- Max isn't Rex's assistant but is more of a label-sent chaperone for Rex.  She used to work at Empire and was in a one-hit wonder band before starting to work for Capital Records.

- Gina doesn't come in on a mission to lose her virginity to Rex but is infatuated with him.  He offers her his hotel room key for later that night.  Gina still has sex with Rex in the copy room.

- A local newscaster (Smooth Bob} ends up saving the day because of his love of jazz and appreciation for Empire's excellent jazz collection (sounds corny AF but actually kind of works)

- They add an epilogue with all the main characters and the future of the record store itself.

I think the biggest challenge is that it doesn't quite know what kind of show it wants to be -- an issue it shares with the source material.  It's part Jagged Little Pill, part In the Heights, part High Fidelity...but not quite comfortably any of those things.  I think with an ensemble piece, it's really helpful to have one key central character (a la Usnavi) that serves as the guide to the world.  Joe could be this.  Or Mark, perhaps.  Or maybe even Lucas.  But right now the plot, while perfectly fine in its components, doesn't feel like it has a cohesive flow to it.

And I really think there's a missed opportunity to give each character their own clear and distinct musical style -- something that we see a bit more of in the movie.  Mark is the pop-punk kid.  AJ could be super into The Gin Blossoms.  Debra is the Liz Phair or PJ Harvey of the group...and then have their songs evoke the artists that reflect their tastes -- and why they work in a record store.   

Regarding the performances, I thought they were strong across the board.  Analise Scarpaci as Debra is probably the standout -- giving Jo from Jagged Little Pill.  Lorna Courtney is excellent vocally, but Corey is underwritten.  Tyler McCall delivers all of Lucas's one liners well...but doesn't have much more to do than that (he would work so well as the fourth-wall breaker were the show to have one).  Liam Pearce was earnest as AJ -- there were some distracting sound issues where I could hear every breath he took while he sang, which was annoying.  Eric Wiegand's Mark is big and makes a lot of choices.  I liked what he was going for, but I can see the characterization being divisive.  I wish Michael Luwoye's Joe was a bit more consistent as a character, but I think that's a book issue and not a performer issue.  And Taylor Iman Jones as Max was a nice surprise, bringing heart to a character that's a bit of a throwaway in the movie.  

Damon Daunno as Rex is interesting.  He performs it well, but I don't know that the show has quite figured out how to make this plot line and character work.  He's not quite the sleaze ball that we saw in the movie.  They hint at him being more of a washed up addict, and I kind of wish they leaned into that more.  It's a conundrum because it's such a central piece of the movie (I mean people literally celebrate Rex Manning Day), so you can't cut it.  And he's clearly meant to be a bit of a cautionary tale -- but a caution against what is unclear.  

Anyway...I'll be interested to see how the show develops through this run.  There are good bones here, and I could see it gaining some traction.  Wishing it luck!