THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON Heading to Broadway Next Season?

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 1/18/25 at 7:45pm

Whispers of a transfer have started to get a lot louder since after Christmas... everyone I know that has seen this is raving and it is projected to have a great showing at the Oliviers.

The lead producers here all have New York experience, and I can't imagine they aren't chomping at the bit to make the move for what should be a very Brit-heavy 2025-26 Broadway season. 

What do we think?

 

 

 

 

 

 

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 1/18/25 at 8:45pm

Many friends have seen it in London and all have loved it.

It's a good idea for a musical and I'm surprised it took this long after the Fincher film adaptation.

ATG is the lead producer of it in London...Hudson or Kerr a year from now?

[VernonGersch]

Posted: 1/18/25 at 10:50pm

EDSOSLO858 said: "Whispers of a transfer have started to get a lotlouder sinceafter Christmas... everyone I know that has seen this is raving and it is projected to have a great showing at the Oliviers.

The lead producers here all have New Yorkexperience, and I can't imagine they aren't chomping at the bit to make the move for what should be a very Brit-heavy 2025-26 Broadway season.

What do we think?



Keep hearing how great the show is.  Question, what other Brit Heavy shows for 2025-2026?  Mincemeat and Dorian?  More?







"

 

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 1/18/25 at 10:54pm

• THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA
• NEXT TO NORMAL
• EVITA
• GIANT
• THE MOTIVE AND THE CUE
• DEAR ENGLAND
• MY NEIGHBOUR TOTORO
• JUST FOR ONE DAY
• STANDING AT THE SKY'S EDGE
• MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING
• 42 BALLOONS

...and that's just off the top of my head.

Updated On: 1/18/25 at 10:54 PM

[inception]

Posted: 1/19/25 at 4:18am

If it's ATG then maybe the St James?  What's happening there once Sunset wraps? 

[spicemonkey]

Posted: 1/19/25 at 7:30am

inception said: "If it's ATG then maybe the St James? What's happening there once Sunset wraps?"

St James would be too big for this show 

[yyys]

Posted: 1/19/25 at 8:37am

I did not like this at all but I'm not the target audience for this type of music.  It reminds me of Choir of Man but with original music. There are several references to drinking. If you like that, then you'd love this. I also just saw a band called LANKUM the night before and they are legit better Irish folk music. The music in Benjamin Button is laughable in comparison.

By the way, they are not showing Benjamin aging backwards - they just TELL YOU.  

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 1/19/25 at 9:24am

The story is now set in Ireland so yeah there’s references to drinking. Not saying everyone in Ireland drinks but…y’know. 

I’m done guessing what will or won’t transfer here and what will or won’t catch on with an American audience but my gut reaction says this show, this particular adaptation of the “Benjamin Button” story is not the one that can succeed in the States. I saw this at the very small Southwark Playhouse  and loved it. Then seeing it again at The Ambassadors (which only has a capacity of about 450 or so) I really liked it but not as much as I did before. Maybe it was the loss of Jamie Parker as Benjamin but there was just something that kept me from having the same reaction to it as I did before. It’s absolutely worth seeing over there but again, I just don’t see this particular version working over here. 

[spicemonkey]

Posted: 1/19/25 at 9:29am

There’s some reference to events happened in the US (IIRC moon landing etc) but it feels unnatural and that they try to get Murica’s interest for a transfer 

[BroadwayNYC2]

Posted: 1/19/25 at 9:45am

“By the way, they are not showing Benjamin aging backwards - they just TELL YOU. “

And that’s an issue why? The show is one of my favorites from the past few years. 

[yyys]

Posted: 1/19/25 at 10:50am

Because that's the coolest part of the movie - to me they just took the name of the movie to bring people in.  

 

BroadwayNYC2 said: "“By the way, they are not showing Benjamin aging backwards - they just TELL YOU. “

And that’s an issue why? The show is one of my favorites from the past few years."

 

[Dylan Smith4]

Posted: 1/19/25 at 11:40am

After seeing it four times and with many more revisits to come, I can say that this should be Broadway-bound. 

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 1/19/25 at 12:16pm

yyys said: "Because that's the coolest part of the movie - to me they just took the name of the movie to bring people in."

The musical is an adaptation of the public domain F. Scott Fitzgerald short story, and David Fincher/Eric Roth/Robin Swicord drifted liberally from that story when making the film.

Haven't seen it on stage, but to try to age Benjamin on stage in the way they go with Pitt on screen could be disastrous or distracting. Or, they'd have to have multiple actors play him.

Why does my mind immediately go to Jeremy Jordan or Aaron Tveit for the Broadway transfer? (again, I haven't seen it)

[Kad]

Posted: 1/19/25 at 12:41pm

yyys said: "There are several references to drinking."

This is such an odd thing to note.

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 1/19/25 at 1:38pm

There are several references to drinking. If you like that, then you'd love this.

So, if I love boozin I will love this musical. Thanks bro, good to know! 

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 1/19/25 at 2:04pm

ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "Why does my mind immediately go to Jeremy Jordan or Aaron Tveit for the Broadway transfer? (again, I haven't seen it)"

It isn’t transferring without John Dagleish and Clare Foster. 

 

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 1/19/25 at 2:18pm

inception said: "If it's ATG then maybe the St James? What's happening there once Sunset wraps?"

Jamie Lloyd’s EVITA, with Ariana DeBose and Antonio Banderas, is reportedly circling the St. James for next spring. 

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 1/19/25 at 2:48pm

EDSOSLO858 said: "Jamie Lloyd’s EVITA, with Ariana DeBose and Antonio Banderas, is reportedly circling the St. James for next spring."

Excuse me, BANDERAS is involved?!?!

As Che again, or Peron?

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 1/19/25 at 2:56pm

ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "EDSOSLO858 said: "Jamie Lloyd’s EVITA, with Ariana DeBose and Antonio Banderas, is reportedly circling the St. James for next spring."

Excuse me, BANDERAS is involved?!?!

As Che again, or Peron?"

Peron. Not sure who's playing Che yet. 

[Phillyguy]

Posted: 1/19/25 at 3:43pm

I saw this 2 weeks ago and thought it was one of the best new musicals I’ve seen this year. The music was catchy, the story was (surprisingly) engaging and incredibly touching. The performers were all fantastic (except for one who played the flute). Not sure if it’s a microphone issue or if she just couldn’t project. 

[THDavis]

Posted: 1/20/25 at 11:03am

I saw this show a few nights ago on a short trip to London. I don’t share the same enthusiasm that it should transfer to Broadway, much less that it’d be a commercial success. 
 

I will admit that my own ignorance likely plays into this. As an American, the telling of this story through a gritty, New Orleans lens was much more familiar than telling it through the folksy setting of a Cornwall fishing village. As an oversimplification, the style of storytelling along with the flavor of music strongly reminds one of Come From Away, but never delivers the same emotional impact. 
 

The performers were rather delightful, although I wouldn’t say any performances that would merit a transfer to the US. Overall, it was the type of production that earns favorable reviews for a regional theatre in America (also finds an audience in London), but not the type of show that delivers a profitable Broadway run. 

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 1/20/25 at 1:08pm

This would be a cozy fit at the Hudson after WAITING FOR GODOT finishes up. 

[BroadwayBen]

Posted: 1/20/25 at 2:40pm

I also saw it in London and I think it would be a total flop in the U.S.   It was mediocre at best.   The score was completely forgettable, the choreography repetitive, and the book "and then he, and then I, and then they, and then he, and then, etc, etc. etc.."   At the matinee I saw several people left at intermission.  I saw this on the same trip I saw "Why Am I So Single" which was just as tepid, but in very different ways.   Not a great trip for original British musicals. 

[spicemonkey]

Posted: 1/20/25 at 3:57pm

Agreed. The songs are extremely repetitive in act 1. 

[BroadwayNYC2]

Posted: 1/21/25 at 1:00am

“Because that's the coolest part of the movie - to me they just took the name of the movie to bring people in.”

I can assure you the “coolest” part of the movie wasn’t cgi.  If you depend on special effects to enjoy well…that’s on you. The Fitzgerald version is one of the most famous short stories of all time lol.