Bullets Over Broadway (musical)

Production

Bullets Over Broadway the Musical premiered on Broadway at the St. James Theatre on March 11, 2014 in previews, officially opening on April 10, 2014. Directed and choreographed by Susan Stroman, the cast features Marin Mazzie (as Helen Sinclair), Zach Braff (as David Shayne), Nick Cordero (as Cheech), Karen Ziemba (as Eden Brent), Vincent Pastore (as Nick Valenti), and Brooks Ashmanskas (as Warner Purcell). Scenic design is by Santo Loquasto, costumes by William Ivey Long, lighting by Donald Holder, sound by Peter Hylenski, musical arrangements and supervision by Glen Kelly and orchestrations by Doug Besterman.

The musical contains jazz and popular standards from the years between World War I and about 1930, with additional lyrics written by Glen Kelly.

The musical closed on August 24, 2014, after 156 performances and 33 previews.

A touring production will start in October 2015. It will begin with a two-week stop at Playhouse Square in Cleveland, Ohio from October 6–18. This is a non-Equity tour, directed by Jeff Whiting.

Background

The musical is based on the 1994 film Bullets over Broadway, which had a screenplay by Woody Allen and Douglas McGrath. Work on a musical version of Bullets started in 2000, with Marvin Hamlisch and Craig Carnelia writing the music and Allen writing the book. In 2003, Hamlisch confirmed that work on the musical was proceeding.

In an interview on the opening night of the musical in April 2014, Allen said that he had resisted turning the film into a musical for years, having no interest in it as a musical. However, his sister Letty Aronson thought that it could be done as a period musical, and Allen then became interested. Marvin Hamlisch had played a few of the new songs for Allen, but Allen did not think they were right for the musical. His sister then proposed the idea of using songs of the 1920s, "and it suddenly came to life." Susan Stroman was brought into the creative team two years before the opening.

Plot

In 1929, playwright David Shayne is finally getting his first play God of Our Fathers produced on Broadway. The producer, Julian Marx, has enlisted the wealthy gangster Nick Valenti to pay for the show. Valenti wants to have his dim-witted and untalented girlfriend, Olive Neal, star as one of the leads. Valenti has assigned his strong-armed gangster, Cheech, to watch over Olive. Surprisingly, Cheech comes up with great ideas for improving the play. However, aging diva Helen Sinclair, the real star of the show, romances the younger David, who already has a girlfriend, Ellen. Meanwhile, the leading man, Warner Purcell, has his eye on Olive.

Critical reception

According to Stagegrade, the reviews were mixed, with some praising ("fun, beautiful musical") and some panning ("charm-free") the musical. The latter especially criticized the use of existing songs rather than having an original score. They conclude that this "may be among the most polarizing shows of the current season."

Ben Brantley in his review for The New York Times, called the musical "occasionally funny but mostly just loud." Elysa Gardner, in her review for USA Today, commented that the musical has "playful wit and exuberance" and wrote that "'Bullets' offers as much sheer, shameless fun as any show you'll see this season."

Alexis Soloski, reviewing for The Guardian, praised the way Stroman tells the plot through her choreography and especially noted the staging for Ashmanskas ("lumbering jetés"), Yorke ("brassy thrusts') and the tap numbers for the male ensemble. However, she found that the songs were not well integrated into the story.

Awards and nominations

Bullets Over Broadway received six 2014 Tony Award nominations for Best Book of a Musical (Allen), Featured Actor in a Musical (Cordero), Best Scenic Design of a Musical (Loquasto), Best Costume Design of a Musical (Long), Best Choreography (Stroman) and Best Orchestrations (Besterman).

The musical received six 2014 Drama Desk Award nominations, for featured actor (Cordero), director and choreography (Stroman) and set (Loquasto), costume (Long) and sound (Hylenski) design. It won the award for Outstanding Costume Design.

The musical received four Outer Critics Circle Award nominations, and won three: Outstanding Costume Design, Outstanding Featured Actor In A Musical (Nick Cordero), and Outstanding Featured Actress In A Musical (Marin Mazzie).