His “reduced ” production of Stephen Sondheim’s Pacific Overtures was seen at London’s Donmar Warehouse and received the Olivier Award for Outstanding Musical Production. Director Gary Griffin’s production focused on Eliza’s emotional journey and not large production numbers and eye-popping costumes.ĭirector Gary Griffin made his Broadway debut last year with The Color Purple. In 2004, after a successful tryout at Chicago’s Cort Theatre, The McCarter Theatre in Princeton, New Jersey presented a scaled down production of My Fair Lady with 10 actors and an “orchestra” consisting of 2 pianos. The actors and actresses who were not part of the current action, watched from the sidelines. The traditional orchestra was replaced by two grand pianos around which the actors and action performed. (Trude Rittman was credited for creating the ballets of Oklahoma.) The two piano arrangement disappeared, until it reappeared in 1999, when director Amanda Dehnert mounted a production of My Fair Lady, with a cast of 27, at the Trinity Repertory Company, in Providence, Rhode Island. Has John Doyle’s (This year’s Tony Winner for Best Director of a Musical) stripped down Sweeney Todd on Broadway and his stripped down Company, transferring from Cincinnati to Broadway next month, started a trend where we will see empty orchestra pits on The Great White Way and in our local theatres? Or is this just a phase that that will lead to the eventual return of the mega-musical?ĮLIZA IS ALL KEYED UP-WHAT HAPPENED TO ALL THAT MUCH NEEDED BRASS?Ī two piano arrangement for My Fair Lady was written in the mid 1950’s by dance arranger, Trude Rittman, and she wrote it under Frederick Loewe’s supervision. Very few Broadway Sondheim productions ( A Little Night Music made money) have recouped its investment, but this “scaled down version” of Sweeney Todd recouped its $3.5 million investment in 19 weeks (as of March 12 th). The slimmed down version of Sweeney Todd, (which closes on September 3 rd) utilizes 10 actors (who also double as musicians), a ladder, and a coffin on two wooden horses on a stage made of wooden planks. It’s the rage now on Broadway-and it’s cheaper to produce.
On July 29 th, press night at Buddy-The Buddy Holly Story.
(She describes this “method” in the interview I conducted with her Helen Hayes Award Winning local Director Toby Orenstein has been doing it for years-it’s in your face theatre, taking musicals that were “epics” on Broadway, and reducing them, so the story and lyrics are the stars of her productions, not the special effects and not the gorgeous sets and costumes.
FIRST TEENY SWEENEY, NOW SIGNATURE’S TEENY LADY TICKLES THE IVORY (2 OF THEM), AND A LOCAL STAR EMCEES, WHILE LOLA CAUSES A FUHRER AT ARENA.
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