King Kong
Michael Paulson’s article “Broadway’s Biggest Debut: King Kong: You’ve never seen a puppet like this before” in The New York Times explores creative concerns raised by some of the show’s artists. What does it take to bring a giant creature to a stage musical?
He reports that Sonny Tilders, the “King Kong” creature designer, spent time in Indonesia where he saw depictions of a Hindu monkey king, Hanuman that gave him ideas for the puppet-puppet operator relationship. He knew audiences wouldn’t expect total realism from the 20 feet tall, 2,000 lbs stage creature. Tilders is quoted saying, “Of course you know it’s not real, and you sit here knowing that’s a stage and they’re all actors, but we love to use our imagination. It’s what separates us from the other great apes.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/11/theater/king-kong-broadway-musical.html
Pretty Woman Movie adapted for Broadway’s 2018-2019 Season
Pretty Woman: The Musical is a new hit on Broadway. The pre-Broadway Tryout was held in Chicago. Chris Jones of the Chicago Tribune wrote about the show while the company of actors was still in New York City in rehearsal. The article explores the collaboration process that is always central to musical making. Jones reveals how flexible the creators needed to be to adapt a 1990s film for today’s audiences.
Note that since the article appeared last spring, three-time Tony nominee Andy Karl has assumed the lead role of Edward (replacing Steve Kazee).
“An exclusive behind the scenes look at the Pretty Woman musical, coming to Chicago” by Chris Jones.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/theater/ct-ae-pretty-woman-premiere-0311-story.html