Roman Holiday - SF then Bway

[RippedMan]

Posted: 10/22/16 at 1:15am

Looks like they just posted a casting notice. Roman Holiday will play SF for an out of town tryout before hitting Broadway. 

[ChairinMain]

Posted: 10/22/16 at 5:39pm

That's been out since last year when SHN announced their season. 

[Jeffrey Karasarides]

Posted: 10/22/16 at 5:42pm

And Marc Bruni is going to be directing it...
http://www.playbill.com/article/broadway-bound-roman-holiday-musical-names-director

[Mildred Plotka]

Posted: 10/22/16 at 8:15pm

Are the rights to some Cole Porter songs about to expire?

[curel1]

Posted: 3/2/17 at 1:33pm

http://www.broadway.com/buzz/187765/stephanie-styles-drew-gehling-more-announced-for-broadway-aimed-roman-holidaythe-cole-porter-musical/

[sorano916]

Posted: 3/2/17 at 1:54pm

I love the casting of Stephanie and Drew!

[BeNice]

Posted: 3/2/17 at 3:02pm

I'm actually most excited to see Sarah Chase in this. She is hilarious and I love her in Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (and still blown away by her at the Gramercy School of Rock.)

[Phillytheatreguy10]

Posted: 3/2/17 at 3:12pm

I like Drew, Stephanie seems too young by comparison though.  Also, I found her to be very Vanilla in the Newsies National Tour when I saw it.

[PatrickDC]

Posted: 3/2/17 at 3:21pm

Not a fan of jukeboxes, but still, RH is part of the SNHSF season so I'll go and enjoy it. 

[newintown]

Posted: 3/2/17 at 3:25pm

Interesting to hear this pop up again, I was sure it was DOA after the mild reception it received at the Guthrie five years ago.

I'd be interested if there was an original score, but merely shoehorning old Porter songs into an old screenplay sounds like a bit of a snooze to me.

On a similar note - I wonder if anyone is still trying to pump life into Robin and the Seven Hoods?

Updated On: 3/2/17 at 03:25 PM

[VintageSnarker]

Posted: 3/3/17 at 3:29am

The casting seems less related to the characters in the movie and more in line with what you'd expect from a Cole Porter society musical. Drew doesn't seem quite as robust as Gregory Peck but... I don't know what you'd call it... he fits that older musical type of lanky guy who looks good in a suit. It makes more sense as casting for a stage version of High Society. 

[broadwaysfguy]

Posted: 3/3/17 at 10:44am

Any chance to see 20+ cole porter gems highlighted in a broadway caliber show is cause to celebrate!

Will this go to broadway? maybe 

Will it be a blockbuster? very unlikely (how many viewers saw roman holiday when it came out in 1950?)  If it makes broadway, it'll likely be more like holiday inn type of run-appreciated by many but gone fairly soon....

I think this would do much better if they picked a more modern movie/story more people could relate to even if it was a modern telling of a more classic story (the last sabrina with harrison ford for a not that great example) so it had more of a built in fan base (hairspray, ghost, kinky boots, matilda)

I would like to see them musicalize the biopic De-lovely, which did a pretty good job of laying out coles works and telling his life story.

in any case, will enjoy this more than once and be sure and let everyone know how the show is....

[VintageSnarker]

Posted: 3/3/17 at 11:04am

I think Roman Holiday is a gorgeous movie and I think it's about as dramatically interesting as something like An American in Paris or Anastasia. It just leaves out the extra war bits that detract from the central story. With the right composers, I think a stage adaptation could be as beautifully rendered as the movie. But then Bridges of Madison County didn't last very long.

[Ado Annie D'Ysquith]

Posted: 3/3/17 at 1:17pm

It amuses me that they are billing this as "The Cole Porter Musical," as if Porter didn't write the scores to 5000 other shows...

Nevertheless, my boyfriend loves the film so I will be keeping an eye on this.

[broadwaysfguy]

Posted: 3/3/17 at 5:50pm

i hope youre right vintage snarker and this does take off

Here is the list of songs used at the last tryout five years ago in minneapolis- a wonderful combination of classics and lesser knowns gems!!!!

 

Overture

Once Upon a Time   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PRINCESS

I’m Throwing a Ball Tonight   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .            . . . . . . JOE, ENSEMBLE

Experiment   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . COUNTESS, PRINCESS

Why Shouldn’t I?                                                                               PRINCESS

You Do Something to Me   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JOE, ENSEMBLE

Let’s Be Buddies. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JOE, PRINCESS

Look What I Found   . .   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JOE, PRINCESS, ENSEMBLE Wouldn’t It Be Fun?   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  . . IRVING, PRINCESS, JOE

Most Gentlemen Don’t Like Love   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . FRANCESCA, PRINCESS

Ridin’ High   .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

ACT II
Entr’acte

A Picture of Me Without You . .                                                                  JOE, PRINCESS, IRVING

Use Your Imagination   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .PRINCESS, JOE

Just One of Those Things  . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . FRANCESCA, MALE QUARTET Easy to Love   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JOE

Ev’ry Time We Say Goodbye   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PRINCESS, JOE

I Sleep Easier Now   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . COUNTESS

Night and Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JOE

Experiment (Reprise)   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .PRINCESS
 

[KnewItWhenIWasInFron]

Posted: 3/3/17 at 8:29pm

Great songs, for sure. But I'm glad they've added some book writers because the show itself was a disjointed and dull.

[broadwaysfguy]

Posted: 3/3/17 at 9:11pm

yes heard last version of book was not very good

which is kind of amazing because the script for roman holiday film was very strong

[VintageSnarker]

Posted: 3/4/17 at 6:59am

I hope this doesn't dissuade someone from writing an original score for a Roman Holiday musical as that's what I would really want to see. 

[ACL2006]

Posted: 3/4/17 at 10:40am

is there a full cast list announcement anywhere?

[broadwaysfguy]

Posted: 3/4/17 at 11:02am

havent seen full cast announcement. from the guthie production there are only five roles with any substance:

Joe the reporter(gregory peck)  drew gelling

the princess(audrey) stephanie styles

Joes news buddy Irving (eddie arnold) jerrod spector  (love having jerrod back in sf- first jersey boys, then beautiful, now this!)

francesca the lounge singer- sarah chase? (or is she the lady in waiting?)

heres a link to much of the playguide from guthrie, courtesy of their historian

http://www.guthrietheater.org/sites/default/files/playguide_Roman_Holiday.pdf

 

 

 

[brdwybound04]

Posted: 3/4/17 at 11:16am

I live in Minneapolis, and saw the Guthrie production of RH 5 years back. Honestly I don't honk this is Broadway ready or there's an audience for this particular show... it was a perfectly pleasant evening, with one really great dance number in the second act. I found the book perfectly adequate, but nothing more. Overall it wasn't a bore, but it left no lasting impression on me, and I struggle to remember much of anything about it... given today's outrageous production and ticket prices, aside from licensing rights, I don't see any reason to bring this to Broadway... this is not nearly as strong or a show as Holiday Inn... which was far from a perfect show IMHO...

[Eris0303]

Posted: 3/8/17 at 9:37am

We have a new employee at my office and it turns out his son is in this production.

 

Brandon Andrus