The Adventures of Tom Sawyer musical

Did anyone see it?

I'm reading the novel again with my students, and every time I do, I think it would make a good musical. However, clearly it didn't, given that it ran a total of 21 performances (with 34 previews). It seemed like it had a decent creative team, with Scott Ellis at the helm. It also had a strong cast, including Kristen Bell as Becky.

I never saw it, and can't really find any footage of it. For those that saw it, what went wrong? I'm shocked a musical based on a beloved novel didn't last at least a little longer. Was it really that awful?

I just now found the New York Times review by Bruce Weber and it should give you an idea as to why this particular musical incarnation of the beloved Twain tale did not go over very well.

http://www.nytimes.com/2001/04/27/movies/theater-review-an-older-and-calmer-tom-sawyer.html

I saw this production on Broadway. I was taking my 8 year old son (who was a big Aaron Carter fan) to see SEUSSICAL with Aaron as Jojo (he was awful). I thought I had bought tickets to a matinee, but the show did not start until 7 PM. So we went to the matinee of TOM SAWYER (I think it was closing that very weekend). I had not heard good things about it and the fact that it had already posted its closing notice was not encouraging. However, I loved every second of it (and so did my son). I just remember smiling throughout the entire show and really enjoying the entire show. The cast was young (mostly) and energetic, the score was catchy and the book hit on most of the major plot points from Twain's novel (though shuffled around a bit). I was particularly impressed with Heidi Ettinger's set and the very impressive lighting design. Especially memorable was the Act 2 chase through the caves. It was very well done and beautiful to look at. I still have very fond memories of this production.

Sadly, Joshua Park, who played the title role, passed away a few years ago at a very young age.

You can see pictures of Ettinger's set design here: http://heidiettinger.com/gallery/

Updated On: 3/6/17 at 09:33 PM