Will the UK Amelie transfer to New York?

[Alex Kulak2]

Posted: 4/7/21 at 9:26pm

The UK actor-muso production of Amelie is returning to the West End in May. Is there any chance that this version might make it to Broadway in the future? It'd be the fastest original-to-revival timeline in Broadway history, but it was already nominated for a Grammy and 3 Oliviers. It's leagues better than the original Broadway production, and is the kind of upbeat story Broadway audiences will be craving once the industry's reopened.

[ElphabaGoodman]

Posted: 4/7/21 at 9:29pm

No

[GiantsInTheSky2]

Posted: 4/7/21 at 10:01pm

Will the UK revision of a show that closed after 1.5 months not even five year ago, at a $12 million loss, with not a single Tony nomination, be revived this season?

Hmmm. Good question.

[iluvtheatertrash]

Posted: 4/7/21 at 10:03pm

No. But I have seen it and must say - it is a completely different beast. Absolutely enchanting, deeply moving and beautifully constructed. also completely retooled.

[Alex Kulak2]

Posted: 4/7/21 at 10:09pm

If not Broadway, maybe a national tour? The original production didn't have a tour, and the UK version is better suited for a bus-and-truck production.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 4/7/21 at 10:18pm

It’s a shame this gorgeous new version isn’t what opened on Broadway. As mentioned, it’s nothing like that mess that played here.

[JBroadway]

Posted: 4/7/21 at 10:48pm

^I agree! For those dismissing this suggestion offhand, I wonder if you're aware just how much the show was overhauled, and just how much better-received this new version has been.

Having said that, I don't think Broadway is likely. Maybe if they had taken this version to Broadway the first time around, but now it feels like that ship has sailed. But an NYC run doesn't feel out of the realm of possibility. There are plenty of non-Broadway venues where it would work well, commercial or non-profit. Not sure which non-profit companies might be the best fit for it - maybe Roundabout at the Laura Pels? 59e59? Maybe Second Stage? Atlantic? 

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 4/7/21 at 10:54pm

The show is small and intimate and needs a house to fit that. MAYBE Circle in the Square would be a good fit but it would be better suited for an off broadway house. And I absolutely think it should get the opportunity to come back in its current form.

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 4/7/21 at 11:02pm

The creative team did tremendous work revising this piece after closing on B'way, but I don't see this returning to NYC. 

Maybe if Soo had been a part of this retooled production in 2017, Amélie would have had a better chance of lasting through Labor Day. I saw the second-to-last B'way performance, and I will agree this was one of the big whiffs of what was a very exciting 2016-17 musical season.

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 4/7/21 at 11:23pm

Absolutely not.

[NOWaWarning]

Posted: 4/8/21 at 12:00am

If this new version is licensed and enjoys a healthy regional life, I could see it making its way back to New York in some capacity. But probably not for another decade or so.

[VotePeron]

Posted: 4/8/21 at 11:20am

The current UK version is now the official licensed version!

The UK version is critically acclaimed and garnered Olivier Award nominations solely from its Other Palace run last year ahead of a West End transfer - so yes, I do believe it could come to New York.

It'll all depend on timing, as I think it would only work if the entire UK cast could come over for a few months and do it at New World Stages or something. Keep in mind the 2017 Amelie made approx. zero noise here - no one saw it, it was in the Kerr for literally 2 months - I don't think it would be hard to market a clearly different production/version with an acclaimed UK cast.

Updated On: 4/8/21 at 11:20 AM

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 4/8/21 at 11:34am

I agree. But I don’t know if there would be a point in bringing it here without Audrey Brisson so she’d have to be game.

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 4/8/21 at 11:39am

Would the Lucille Lortel work for this new revised version of Amelie?

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 4/8/21 at 11:45am

Yeah, it would.

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 4/8/21 at 11:56am

Funny how the uk versions of Amelie and The Last Ship have been more successful than their original productions. I could see Amelie doing a west coast tour similar to what the last ship tried to do prior to the shutdown

[SouthernCakes]

Posted: 4/8/21 at 12:19pm

I loved the score on Broadway. So haunting but this new version is just gorgeous! “When the booth goes bright” is just gorgeous. I could see 2nd stage doing it off Broadway and then maybe transferring to the Hayes. It’s gotta be cheap-ish to produce.

[JBroadway]

Posted: 4/8/21 at 12:25pm

SouthernCakes said: "“When the booth goes bright” is just gorgeous."

 

That song wasn't in the show when I saw it in Berkeley, and I always thought it was super bland and boring when I listened to the OBCR. Then I listened to the London version, and it literally made me tear up because how beautiful it was! 

 

[SouthernCakes]

Posted: 4/8/21 at 12:46pm

Agreed!!! It’s so well done!

I have to say though I prefer the Broadway “thin air.”

[Alex Kulak2]

Posted: 4/8/21 at 1:06pm

The only thing I thought the Broadway show did better than the UK was not having the actors do French accents. Unless having an accent has a specific purpose (like Light in the Piazza or The Band's Visit, where the characters are actually speaking English as a second language in the world of the story), I feel like doing an accent doesn't really serve a valuable purpose in a musical that's set in a foreign country. You're already breaking the immersion by A) speaking English and B) singing and dancing, and trying to parse through song lyrics in a French accent just makes them harder to understand.

[Owen22]

Posted: 4/8/21 at 10:30pm

Jordan Catalano said: "I agree. But I don’t know if there would be a point in bringing it here without Audrey Brisson so she’d have to be game. "

THIS!

 

[Fan123]

Posted: 4/9/21 at 3:34am

^^ According to this 2019(?) interview, Audrey Brisson expressed interest in playing the role in the original American production back in 2015. She may be content not doing an American production now, of course, but there was interest there at one point.

https://www.discoverfranceandspain.com/audrey-brisson-star-of-amelie-the-musical-talks-life-loneliness-and-audrey-tatou/

Alex Kulak2, I find the French accents a bit distracting in the London cast recording myself. Granted, Brisson is French-Canadian in real life, but some of the other attempts at accents are a bit much IMO.

[Alex Kulak2]

Posted: 4/9/21 at 9:15am

Fan123 said: "Alex Kulak2, I find the French accents a bit distracting in the London cast recording myself. Granted, Brisson is French-Canadian in real life, but some of the other attempts at accents are a bit much IMO."

I just looked up an interview with Audrey Brisson, and I had no idea that was her real accent. I know she's French-Canadian, but I've heard other French-Canadians talk with a standard Canadian accent. Although I might be confusing growing up in Quebec with growing up in France and Canada.

[JBroadway]

Posted: 4/9/21 at 10:20am

I don't love the accents on the CR, but I'm not surprised that it happened, considering everyone was b*tching about how the Broadway production "didn't feel French enough" - one of the sillier criticisms of the show IMO. 

[Alex Kulak2]

Posted: 4/9/21 at 11:53am

JBroadway said: "I don't love the accents on the CR, but I'm not surprised that it happened, considering everyone was b*tching about how the Broadway production "didn't feel French enough" - one of the sillier criticisms of the show IMO."

I agree, the show already feels far more French in the new version, regardless of the accents. Beyond the updated orchestrations, with the string and accordion-heavy instrumentation that's usually associated with the French aesthetic, the story is more playful and emotional, hallmarks of the storytelling seen in French art, especially in the original film.