The Visitor: Yorke & Kitt's new musical

[RippedMan]

Posted: 1/5/16 at 7:22pm

Anyone know anything about this? Per the audition notice:

"THE VISITOR, a musical based on the film written and directed by Tom McCarthy, follows  the story of Walter, a lonely and disconnected widowed economics professor who arrives at his apartment in New York to find it occupied by a young couple – Tarek, a Syrian musician and Zainab, a Senegalese street vendor. He is immediately drawn into their world and through it rediscovers the rhythm of his own life." 

The Public is doing a reading in Feb. 

[neonlightsxo]

Posted: 1/6/16 at 9:41am

The existence of the project isn't news.

http://www.playbill.com/news/article/tom-kitt-and-brian-yorkey-will-bring-the-visitor-musical-to-broadway-333649

 

[TheGingerBreadMan]

Posted: 1/6/16 at 9:45am

Also, it's spelled Yorkey, not Yorke. 

[LightsOut90]

Posted: 1/7/16 at 4:34am

however the fact The Public might be producing it is new information

[Robbie2]

Posted: 5/13/19 at 6:57pm

NEW UPDATE:

Now this sounds interesting and exciting!!!

Tony and Pulitzer Prize-winning Next to Normal and If/Then collaborators Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey are at work on a new Broadway bound musical based on the 2007 Thomas McCarthy film "The Visitor," about a widower who befriends a Syrian immigrant in post-9/11 New York City.

Next February 2020 rehearsals start for The Public Theater's musical adaptation of The Visitor

Starring Ari'el Stachel opposite David Hyde Pierce. Daniel Sullivan (The Nap,The Little Foxes) will direct, with a book and score by Tom Kitt (Next To Normal).

Producer Aaron Harnick is developing the musical that will receive a private industry reading in December. The new musical is based on McCarthy's film, which starred Richard Jenkins in an Academy Award-nominated performance as the widowed professor and Haaz Sleiman who makes the unlikely decision to allow two illegal immigrants to live in his Manhattan apartment.

According to the creators, "The Visitor is the poignant and urgent story of Walter, a lost soul who gets a new lease on life with the arrival of Terek, an undocumented immigrant who challenges Walter's capacity for acceptance, change, and even intimacy in the wake of his wife's passing. In it, Walter connects with Terek over a shared appreciation of music, a bond that slowly builds into a soul-stirring, unexpected friendship. Set in a culturally-divided post-9/11 New York City, The Visitor suggests that the ties that bind us--music, passion, love--are far more powerful tools for healing than the things that tear us apart."

 

Updated On: 5/13/19 at 06:57 PM

[LightsOut90]

Posted: 5/13/19 at 7:37pm

^ where is this from?

[Alex Kulak2]

Posted: 5/13/19 at 7:41pm

Having recently seen Next to Normal live for the first time, I'm wary about Brian Yorkey writing the book. His lyrics are beautiful and poetic and witty, but his dialogue feels very wooden. It always feels foreign in the actor's mouths. Stuff like "I'll be up for sex in a minute" or "I don't put anything in my mouth that is on fire" just don't sound right.

[Robbie2]

Posted: 5/13/19 at 8:40pm

LightsOut90 said: "^ where is this from?"

From a press release- Ari's signing with ICM Partners...

[GeorgeandDot]

Posted: 5/13/19 at 10:11pm

I strongly dislike their writing, but hopefully this show will change my mind.

[SomethingPeculiar]

Posted: 5/13/19 at 11:33pm

Is Tom Kitt the most prolific composer of his generation?

Coming Soon:
The Visitor (music)
Lapine/Korie collab (music)
Almost Famous (music & lyrics)
Jagged Little Pill (arrangements/orchestrations)

Past 2 years:
Superhero (music & lyrics)
Dave (music)
Freaky Friday (music)
Head Over Heels (arrangements/orchestrations)
NBC's Rise (music supervisor)
SpongeBob (the glue that kept that show together musically)

Updated On: 5/13/19 at 11:33 PM

[binau]

Posted: 5/14/19 at 7:09am

Personally, I think Pasek & Paul have overtaken as the most prolific. Tom Kitt is working constantly, and appears to be a reliable 'go-to' guy. I'm guessing he must be quite easy to work with, reliable and churn out some decent work. However, he hasn't really had much mainstream recognition or success outside of Next to Normal. 

[Kad]

Posted: 5/14/19 at 10:04am

Well... producers certainly seem more willing to produce his shows than most, despite the fact the quality of his work post-Normal is very hit or miss .

(It also helps that he is a very talented arranger/orchestrator, which keeps him constantly working). 

[SomethingPeculiar]

Posted: 5/14/19 at 1:21pm

Pasek & Paul are busy guys, but they've written a lot more for screen than for theatre. 9 out of those 10 Kitt projects are all stage properties.