When Peter Vack scored a role over the summer playing Lola Kirke’s boyfriend on the Amazon series “Mozart in the Jungle,” he used the money to direct his first feature. The actor had scored in dozens of low-budget projects and directed a short film a few years earlier, but he had reason to believe nobody else was going to back his feature-length debut.
“Just imagine the first sentence of the pitch,” said Vack, over lunch at Soho House. “‘It’s about two people who share an anal fetish, and I’m thinking of my sister to play the lead.’ I knew this particular endeavor was not something I’d be able to find investors for.”
The movie, by the way, was called “Assholes.” It premiered at the SXSW Film Festival, where it won the inaugural Adam Yauch Hornblower Award (a prize reserved for unique filmmaking visions); it also jolted audiences and critics alike,...
“Just imagine the first sentence of the pitch,” said Vack, over lunch at Soho House. “‘It’s about two people who share an anal fetish, and I’m thinking of my sister to play the lead.’ I knew this particular endeavor was not something I’d be able to find investors for.”
The movie, by the way, was called “Assholes.” It premiered at the SXSW Film Festival, where it won the inaugural Adam Yauch Hornblower Award (a prize reserved for unique filmmaking visions); it also jolted audiences and critics alike,...
- 10/6/2017
- by Eric Kohn
- Indiewire
The Dramatists Guild Foundation celebrated the work of musical writing team Scott Frankel, Michael Korie, and Doug Wright at a salon co hosted by the Core Club on Monday, September 25. The trio spoke about the creation of their musical War Paint in a panel discussion led by Vanity Fair special correspondent, Amy Fine Collins.
- 9/27/2017
- by Walter McBride
- BroadwayWorld.com
The heart of Paris beats for film industry in June. Industry Week is the professional part of the Champs-Elysées Film Festival.
The submissions for Us in Progress are now open till August 15th here.
This label includes the Us in Progress (USiP) and Les Arc Film Fesstival’s team presenting the Paris Coproduction Village and La Residence de la Cinefondation which welcomes a dozen young directors who come to Paris to work on their first or second fiction feature project for 4 and 1/2 months. All together, they offer 24 film projects at different stages, from development to post production. More than 200 professionals from the industry, producers, international sellers, distributors, etc. are welcomed.
This year Us in Progress broke out. It has become a top event for discovering American independent cinema not only for the Europeans invited to attend, but for Americans who find themselves in Paris for the event or who even...
The submissions for Us in Progress are now open till August 15th here.
This label includes the Us in Progress (USiP) and Les Arc Film Fesstival’s team presenting the Paris Coproduction Village and La Residence de la Cinefondation which welcomes a dozen young directors who come to Paris to work on their first or second fiction feature project for 4 and 1/2 months. All together, they offer 24 film projects at different stages, from development to post production. More than 200 professionals from the industry, producers, international sellers, distributors, etc. are welcomed.
This year Us in Progress broke out. It has become a top event for discovering American independent cinema not only for the Europeans invited to attend, but for Americans who find themselves in Paris for the event or who even...
- 7/26/2017
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
The Sundance Institute has selected their filmmakers for this year's directing and screenwriting labs, with projects coming from Cuba, Chile, Kenya and the U.S.
The participants in this year's directing lab are Radha Blank, Aleem Khan, Francisca Alegria, Reinaldo Marcus Green, Tayarisha Poe, Brett Weiner and Emma Fletcher, Hannah Pearl Utt and Jen Tullock and Grainger David.
Cory Miller, Colman Domingo, Amirah Tajdin, Clea DuVall, Marcos Díaz Sosa and Lyle Mitchell Corbine, Jr. are the writers chosen for the screenwriting lab.
Sundance founder Robert Redford and Sundance lab artistic directors Doug Wright and Gyula Gazdag will act as advisers for the lab, along with Rick Famuyiwa, Ed Harris, Karyn Kusama,...
The participants in this year's directing lab are Radha Blank, Aleem Khan, Francisca Alegria, Reinaldo Marcus Green, Tayarisha Poe, Brett Weiner and Emma Fletcher, Hannah Pearl Utt and Jen Tullock and Grainger David.
Cory Miller, Colman Domingo, Amirah Tajdin, Clea DuVall, Marcos Díaz Sosa and Lyle Mitchell Corbine, Jr. are the writers chosen for the screenwriting lab.
Sundance founder Robert Redford and Sundance lab artistic directors Doug Wright and Gyula Gazdag will act as advisers for the lab, along with Rick Famuyiwa, Ed Harris, Karyn Kusama,...
- 5/11/2017
- by Mia Galuppo
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Just last night, acclaimed Off-Broadway theater company Playwrights Horizons held itsannual Spring Gala Benefit.This year called A Celebration Of Song, it honoredthree of the company's exceptional alumni writers Tony Award nominee Scott Frankel Grey Gardens, Far From Heaven, Tony Award nominee Michael Korie Grey Gardens, Far From Heaven and Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winner Doug Wright I Am My Own Wife, Grey Gardens.BroadwayWorld was on hand for the big night and you can check out photos below...
- 5/9/2017
- by Jessica Fallon Gordon
- BroadwayWorld.com
Acclaimed Off-Broadway theater company Playwrights Horizons will hold its annual Spring Gala on Monday evening, May 8, at the event space 583 Park Avenue. Titled A Celebration Of Song, the evening will honor three of the company's exceptional alumni writers Tony Award nominee Scott Frankel Grey Gardens and Far From Heaven at Playwrights, Tony Award nominee Michael Korie Grey Gardens and Far From Heaven at Playwrights and Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winner Doug Wright I Am My Own Wife and Grey Gardens at Playwrights. The Grey Gardens writing team has returned to Broadway with their new musical, War Paint, now playing at The Nederlander Theatre.
- 5/5/2017
- by BWW News Desk
- BroadwayWorld.com
Ryan Murphy had it easy with his new FX series “Feud.” Bette Davis and Joan Crawford actually met face to face and, hating every minute of it, made a movie together, “What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?” Broadway’s Doug Wright, Scott Frankel, and Michael Korie have given themselves a much tougher task with their new feud musical, “War Paint,” which opened Thursday at the Nederlander Theatre. Cosmetics titans Helena Rubinstein and Elizabeth Arden set up shops near each other in Manhattan during the Depression, but never met during their long reign over the world of lipstick, facials, and nail polish.
- 4/7/2017
- by Robert Hofler
- The Wrap
Episode 11 of American Doers, a new 12-part video series featuring original thinkers, innovators, craftspeople, risk-takers and artisans across the United States.
There are teams of people who work behind the scenes in Hollywood to make the magic happen — Doug Wright is one of them.
And the freelance prop artist is always looking for his next big gig.
“I’ve been working in production for at least 25 years as a freelancer. You never know what the next job is or how long it is. You think, ‘I’m never going to get the next job. Everything is on me,” he says.
There are teams of people who work behind the scenes in Hollywood to make the magic happen — Doug Wright is one of them.
And the freelance prop artist is always looking for his next big gig.
“I’ve been working in production for at least 25 years as a freelancer. You never know what the next job is or how long it is. You think, ‘I’m never going to get the next job. Everything is on me,” he says.
- 3/17/2017
- by Erin Hill
- PEOPLE.com
Acclaimed Off-Broadway theater company Playwrights Horizonswill hold its annual Spring Gala on Monday evening, May 8 at the event space 583 Park Avenue. Titled A Celebration Of Song, the evening will honor three of the company's exceptional alumni writers Tony Award nominee Scott Frankel Grey Gardens and Far From Heaven at Playwrights, Tony Award nominee Michael Korie Grey Gardens and Far From Heaven at Playwrights and Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winner Doug Wright I Am My Own Wife and Grey Gardens at Playwrights.
- 2/9/2017
- by BWW News Desk
- BroadwayWorld.com
Just last month, Works amp Process at the Guggenheim offereda behind-the-scenes look at War Paint, the new musical by librettist Doug Wright, composer Scott Frankel, lyricist Michael Korie, and director Michael Greif in advance of the Broadway opening on April 6, 2017. Two-time Tony Award winners Patti LuPone and Christine Ebersole star as America's first major female entrepreneurs and relentless and legendary rivals, Helena Rubinstein and Elizabeth Arden. LuPone and Ebersole joined the creative team for a moderated discussion and performance excerpts with moderator Amy Fine Collins, Vanity Fair special correspondent.
- 2/7/2017
- by Stage Tube
- BroadwayWorld.com
Two-time Tony winners Patti LuPone and Christine Ebersole will duke it out on Broadway this spring as rival cosmetics titans in the new musical “War Paint,” producers announced Thursday. The show, which had a sold-out trial run at Chicago’s Goodman Theatre this summer, will begin previews on March 7, 2017, in advance of an official opening on April 6 at the Nederlander Theatre. The score is by composer Scott Frankel and lyricist Michael Korie, whose previous credits include “Grey Gardens” and “Far From Heaven,” with a book by Tony winner Doug Wright. Michael Greif (“Rent,” “Grey Gardens”) will direct. Also Read: 'Oh,...
- 10/13/2016
- by Thom Geier
- The Wrap
Sundance Institute today announced the seven artists selected for the 2016 Playwrights amp Composers Retreat at Ucross Foundation in Wyoming, February 2-20. The retreat is one of the 25 residency Labs the Institute hosts each year for independent artists in theatre, film, new media and episodic content, and is made possible through the generosity of the Ucross Foundation. Over 90 Sundance artists have benefitted from time at Ucross Foundation including Charlayne Woodard, Jeanine Tesori, Doug Wright, Annie Baker, Adam Guettel, Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, Tanya Saracho.
- 2/1/2016
- by BWW News Desk
- BroadwayWorld.com
Today in 2008, The Little Mermaid opened at the Lunt Fontanne Theatre, where it ran for 685 performances. The Little Mermaid is based on the animated 1989 Disney film of the same name and the classic story of The Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Andersen. The musical's book is by Doug Wright, music by Alan Menken and lyrics by the late Howard Ashman written for the film and new lyrics by Glenn Slater. The musical had a pre-Broadway tryout in Denver, Colorado in July through early September 2007. The original cast featured Sierra Boggess in the title role of Ariel, Sean Palmer as Prince Eric, Brian D'Addario and Trevor Braun alternate as Flounder, Norm Lewis as King Triton, Sherie Rene Scott as Ursula, Tituss Burgess as Sebastian, Tyler Maynard as Flotsam, Derrick Baskin as Jetsam, Jonathan Freeman as Grimsby, and John Treacy Egan as Chef Louis.
- 1/10/2016
- by Stage Tube
- BroadwayWorld.com
Dramatists Guild president Doug Wright responded to recent controversy surrounding Kent State University’s casting of a white actor to play Martin Luther King Jr. in a production of Katori Hall’s “The Mountaintop” by blasting “disingenuous” casting. Wright’s Nov. 18 open letter explained that when it comes to plays still under copyright, licenses state, “No changes to the play, including text, title, and stage directions are permitted without the approval of the author.” He insisted that “casting a character outside his or her obvious race, gender, or implicit characteristics” is changing a script’s stage directions and furthermore, “to pretend otherwise is disingenuous.” “[Playwrights] have sacrificed a great deal for the privilege of authorial ownership,” Wright said. “But in doing so, we have retained the hard-won right to protect the integrity of our work. This includes approval of all creative elements, including the cast.” This comes in light of other...
- 11/20/2015
- backstage.com
They were the brand name on every woman's lips. Goodman Theatre announces it will produce the world premiere of War Paint, a new musical that charts the ascent and arch-rivalry of cosmetics entrepreneurs Helena Rubinstein and Elizabeth Arden. Patti LuPone, who generates more raw excitement than any other performer on Broadway The New York Times, and Christine Ebersole, a first-class, revitalizing master of period style The New York Times, respectively star as Rubinstein and Arden, the brilliant innovators with humble roots who shrewdly navigated the 1930s male-dominated business world to forever change the business of beauty. Directed by Michael Greif Rent, Next to Normal, IfThen, Grey Gardens, War Paint reunites Scott Frankel and Michael Korie-the acclaimed composer and lyricist team of Grey Gardens and Far From Heaven-with Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Doug Wright Grey Gardens, I Am My Own Wife, The Little Mermaid. The musical is inspired by the book,...
- 11/12/2015
- by BWW News Desk
- BroadwayWorld.com
Today in 2006, Grey Gardens opened at the Walter Kerr Theatre, where it ran for 307 performances. Grey Gardens is a musical with book by Doug Wright, music by Scott Frankel, and lyrics by Michael Korie, based on the 1975 documentary of the same title about the lives of Edith Ewing Bouvier Beale 'Big Edie' and her daughter Edith Bouvier Beale 'Little Edie' by Albert and David Maysles. The Beales were Jacqueline Kennedy's aunt and cousin, respectively. Set at Grey Gardens, the Bouviers' mansion in East Hampton, New York, the musical tracks the progression of the two women's lives from their original status as rich and socially polished aristocrats to their eventual largely isolated existence in a home overrun by cats and cited for repeated health code violations.
- 11/2/2015
- by Stage Tube
- BroadwayWorld.com
Tony Awardand Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Doug Wright I Am My Own Wife, Grey Gardens joined in the immediate standing ovation for star Vince Gatton on opening night of Amy Corcoran's site-specific staging of I Am My Own WIFEfor Two Turns Theatre Company at RePOP, a vintage and oddity show space in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. He later joined the actor, director, and company members to celebrate at the opening night party held at the Roebling Tea Room. Scroll down for photos...
- 9/24/2015
- by BWW News Desk
- BroadwayWorld.com
Today in 2009, The Little Mermaid closed at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, where it ran for 685 performances. The Little Mermaid is based on the animated 1989 Disney film of the same name and the classic story of The Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Andersen. The musical's book is by Doug Wright, music by Alan Menken and lyrics by the late Howard Ashman written for the film and new lyrics by Glenn Slater. The original cast featured Sierra Boggess in the title role of Ariel, Sean Palmer as Prince Eric, Brian D'Addario and Trevor Braun alternate as Flounder, Norm Lewis as King Triton, Sherie Rene Scott as Ursula, Tituss Burgess as Sebastian, Tyler Maynard as Flotsam, Derrick Baskin as Jetsam, Jonathan Freeman as Grimsby, and John Treacy Egan as Chef Louis.
- 8/30/2015
- by Stage Tube
- BroadwayWorld.com
Just in BroadwayWorld brings you a first look at highlights of Grey Gardens Bay Street Theater presents Tony Award winner Betty Buckley and Drama Desk Award winner Rachel York as Big Edie and Little Edie Bouvier Beale in Grey Gardens, the musical, now running through August 30 with book by Doug Wright, music by Scott Frankel, and lyrics by Michael Korie. Michael Wilsondirects. For tickets, call the Bay Street Theater Box Office at 631-725-9500 or online at www.baystreet.org. Check out a first look at highlights of the show below...
- 8/24/2015
- by Stage Tube
- BroadwayWorld.com
Bay Street Theater presentsTony Award winner Betty Buckley and Drama Desk Award winner Rachel York as Big Edie and Little Edie Bouvier Beale in Grey Gardens, the musical, beginning tomorrow, August 4, where it will run through August30 with book by Doug Wright, music by Scott Frankel, and lyrics by Michael Korie. Michael Wilson directs. For tickets, call the Bay Street Theater Box Office at631-725-9500or online atwww.baystreet.org.
- 8/3/2015
- by BWW News Desk
- BroadwayWorld.com
The American Association of Community Theatre’s AACTFest 2015 kicks off today in Grand Rapids, Mich. Twelve productions from the Aact’s 10 regions will vie for for a chance to have their work advance from state to regional, and then to the national level. This year’s competing shows include James McClure’s “Lone Star” from Tupelo, Miss., Doug Wright’s “I Am My Own Wife,” from Cardiff, Calif., and Conway, Ariz.’s “God of Carnage” by Yasmine Reza. “We definitely have a wide variety of shows,” said David Cockerell, Communications Director of the Fort Worth, Texas-based Aact. “We also have a panel of adjudicators who will give feedback, and there will be an awards presentation at the end of the week,” he added. “But most importantly, this is a chance for attendants to meet each other and learn from each other.” More than 600 people will participate in the festival, and...
- 6/23/2015
- backstage.com
The largest Broadway houses have fewer than 2,000 seats; Radio City Music Hall has almost 6,000. So you might expect Radio City’s New York Spring Spectacular, a sticky amalgam of musical theater, corporate masturbation, and high-fructose corn syrup, to be about three times as bad as, say, Mamma Mia! But that would be to underestimate the awesome tackiness of Spring Spectacular, a show assembled largely to extend the Christmas Spectacular brand into a new seasonal niche. (Cue the hip-hop Easter bunny.) Broadway values, such as they are, are mere starting points in a venue that, spreading over 12 acres, resists subtle gestures; indeed, an earlier version of the show, with a book by Pulitzer Prize–winner Doug Wright, was yanked less than a week before it was scheduled to open last year, possibly because it bore too great a resemblance to actual theater. Astonishingly, the thing that opened last night is the...
- 3/27/2015
- by Jesse Green
- Vulture
Atlantic Theater Company presents the world premiere of Posterity, written and directed by Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winner Doug Wright and featuring Hamish Linklater, John Noble, Dale Soules, Henry Stram and Mickey Theis. Posterity officially opened last night, March 15, 2015 for a limited engagement through Sunday, April 5 Off Broadway at Atlantic Theater Company at The Linda Gross Theater 336 West 20th Street. BroadwayWorld brings you photos from the big night below...
- 3/16/2015
- by Jennifer Broski
- BroadwayWorld.com
Atlantic Theater Company presents the world premiere of Posterity, written and directed by Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winner Doug Wright and featuring Hamish Linklater, John Noble, Dale Soules, Henry Stram and Mickey Theis. Posterity is currently in previews and will officially open Sunday, March 15, 2015 for a limited engagement through Sunday, April 5 Off Broadway at Atlantic Theater Company at The Linda Gross Theater 336 West 20th Street.Norway's most celebrated sculptor Linklater is commissioned to create the last official portrait of the country's most famous writer, but Henrik Ibsen Noble proves to be an irascible, contentious sitter, as the two men wage war over both his legacy and his likeness. With his inimitable wit and insight, Doug Wright explores the nature of artistic success and the fear of being forgotten.In the special interview below, BroadwayWorld's Richard Ridge sits down with Wright and Soules to chat about the new play, working together again,...
- 3/8/2015
- by BroadwayWorld TV
- BroadwayWorld.com
Atlantic Theater Company presents the world premiere of Posterity, written and directed by Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winner Doug Wright and featuring Hamish Linklater, John Noble, Dale Soules, Henry Stram and Mickey Theis. Posterity will begin previews tonight, February 25 and officially open Sunday, March 15, 2015 for a limited engagement through Sunday, April 5 Off Broadway at Atlantic Theater Company at The Linda Gross Theater 336 West 20th Street.
- 2/25/2015
- by BWW News Desk
- BroadwayWorld.com
Today in 2008, The Little Mermaid opened at the Lunt Fontanne Theatre, where it ran for 685 performances. The Little Mermaid is based on the animated 1989 Disney film of the same name and the classic story of The Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Andersen. The musical's book is by Doug Wright, music by Alan Menken and lyrics by the late Howard Ashman written for the film and new lyrics by Glenn Slater. The musical had a pre-Broadway tryout in Denver, Colorado in July through early September 2007. The original cast featured Sierra Boggess in the title role of Ariel, Sean Palmer as Prince Eric, Brian D'Addario and Trevor Braun alternate as Flounder, Norm Lewis as King Triton, Sherie Rene Scott as Ursula, Tituss Burgess as Sebastian, Tyler Maynard as Flotsam, Derrick Baskin as Jetsam, Jonathan Freeman as Grimsby, and John Treacy Egan as Chef Louis.
- 1/10/2015
- by Stage Tube
- BroadwayWorld.com
Hedwig and the Angry Inch composerlyricistco-creator Stephen Trask is set to take part in the next Dead Darlings at the historic Judson Memorial Church on December 10. Also featured will be Doug Wright playwright, I Am My Own Wife, Grey Gardens, Oliver Butler director, Jacuzzi, Tick, Tick... Boom and Duncan Pflaster creator, The Naughty Jewish Boys Calendar. Please see below for event details.
- 12/9/2014
- by BWW News Desk
- BroadwayWorld.com
Reese Witherspoon is on a roll this year thanks to three upcoming films, one of which is already garnering serious Best Actress chatter, and it looks like her hot streak is going to continue. Witherspoon has long been attached to a biopic of singer Peggy Lee—she even obtained the rights from Lee’s estate—but now the project is getting underway with Todd Haynes on board. Haynes, who directed the ’50s period piece Far From Heaven and unconventional Bob Dylan movie I’m Not There, is now attached to direct the film, EW has confirmed. Originally the project was...
- 9/8/2014
- by Esther Zuckerman
- EW - Inside Movies
Today in 2009, The Little Mermaid closed at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, where it ran for 685 performances. The Little Mermaid is based on the animated 1989 Disney film of the same name and the classic story of The Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Andersen. The musical's book is by Doug Wright, music by Alan Menken and lyrics by the late Howard Ashman written for the film and new lyrics by Glenn Slater. The original cast featured Sierra Boggess in the title role of Ariel, Sean Palmer as Prince Eric, Brian D'Addario and Trevor Braun alternate as Flounder, Norm Lewis as King Triton, Sherie Rene Scott as Ursula, Tituss Burgess as Sebastian, Tyler Maynard as Flotsam, Derrick Baskin as Jetsam, Jonathan Freeman as Grimsby, and John Treacy Egan as Chef Louis.
- 8/30/2014
- by Stage Tube
- BroadwayWorld.com
The Sundance Institute has selected nine projects to participate in its 2014 Theatre Lab that runs from July 7-27 at the Sundance Resort in Utah.
The projects selected for the 2014 Sundance Institute Lab are:
Caught, dir Tba;
Ghost Supper (Spalding Gray, You’re Invited, Too), dir Leigh Silverman;
The Good Book, dir Lisa Peterson;
The Last Of The Little Hours, dir Annie Baker;
Posterity, dir Doug Wright;
Skeleton Crew, dir Kamilah Forbes;
So Go The Ghosts Of Mexico, Part Two, dir Lee Sunday Evans;
T., dir James MacDonald; and
Bed by Sheila Callaghan (playwright-in-residence).
The Lab supports emerging and established playwrights and directors developing new work for the stage.
“Development opportunities for independent artists are exceedingly rare and yet critical to the success of their projects and careers,” said Sundance Institute executive director Keri Putnam (pictured). “Our Lab model offers an independent-minded environment for artists to engage with their work, ask questions, build text and...
The projects selected for the 2014 Sundance Institute Lab are:
Caught, dir Tba;
Ghost Supper (Spalding Gray, You’re Invited, Too), dir Leigh Silverman;
The Good Book, dir Lisa Peterson;
The Last Of The Little Hours, dir Annie Baker;
Posterity, dir Doug Wright;
Skeleton Crew, dir Kamilah Forbes;
So Go The Ghosts Of Mexico, Part Two, dir Lee Sunday Evans;
T., dir James MacDonald; and
Bed by Sheila Callaghan (playwright-in-residence).
The Lab supports emerging and established playwrights and directors developing new work for the stage.
“Development opportunities for independent artists are exceedingly rare and yet critical to the success of their projects and careers,” said Sundance Institute executive director Keri Putnam (pictured). “Our Lab model offers an independent-minded environment for artists to engage with their work, ask questions, build text and...
- 4/24/2014
- ScreenDaily
Msg Entertainment Msge announces the launch of a brand new, New York City themed, live theatrical production at Radio City Music Hall, entitled Heart and Lights, which stars the Rockettes in a way that audiences have never seen them before. Heart and Lights celebrates the vibrant, infectious energy of New York City as seen through the eyes of two cousins, who discover their grandmother's surprising past by uncovering the secrets of the city she loved. This 90-minute show features a heartwarming journey through New York City, thread through eight production numbers of dynamically different Rockettes choreography, dazzling costumes and innovative technology including 3D effects, elaborate animatronics and Gps elements. Heart and Lights is set to an unforgettable soundtrack of original music coupled with songs by some of the most influential musical artists of the past 50 years. The production presents groundbreaking technology that will immerse audiences in the magic of live...
- 3/14/2014
- by Diana Heisroth
- BroadwayWorld.com
Last night Atlantic Theater Company presented their annual Gala at The Pierre 2 East 61st Street. Directed by Neil Pepe with musical direction by Matt Gallagher, Writers' Choice saluted Atlantic's iconic playwrights with an evening of unexpected songs. For this year's Gala, Atlantic asked alumni playwrights to choose a favorite song and a favorite musician to perform it. Writers' Choice featured special tributes to Annie Baker, Martha Clarke, Stephen Adly Guirgis, David Mamet, Conor McPherson, and Doug Wright from presenters and performers Jonathan Cake, Bridget Everett, John Gallagher Jr., Rick Holmes, Brian D'Arcy James, Gary Jules, John Kelly, Zosia Mamet, Julianne Nicholson, Laura Osnes, Michael Park, Mary Beth Peil and Isiah Whitlock, Jr. among others. Check out photos from the special event below...
- 2/25/2014
- by BWW News Desk
- BroadwayWorld.com
The new show Heart And Lights is a love letter to New York, written by Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winner Doug Wright, which celebrates New York City as seen through the eyes of two cousins who discover their grandmother's past by uncovering the secrets of the city she loved. The 26-foot tall animatronic Statue of Liberty puppet for Heart And Lights was loaded in to Radio City Music Hall earlier today, and BroadwayWorld brings you a sneak peek at her onstage below...
- 2/18/2014
- by Jennifer Broski
- BroadwayWorld.com
Today in 2008, The Little Mermaid opened at the Lunt Fontanne Theatre, where it ran for 685 performances. The Little Mermaid is based on the animated 1989 Disney film of the same name and the classic story of The Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Andersen. The musical's book is by Doug Wright, music by Alan Menken and lyrics by the late Howard Ashman written for the film and new lyrics by Glenn Slater. The musical had a pre-Broadway tryout in Denver, Colorado in July through early September 2007. The original cast featured Sierra Boggess in the title role of Ariel, Sean Palmer as Prince Eric, Brian D'Addario and Trevor Braun alternate as Flounder, Norm Lewis as King Triton, Sherie Rene Scott as Ursula, Tituss Burgess as Sebastian, Tyler Maynard as Flotsam, Derrick Baskin as Jetsam, Jonathan Freeman as Grimsby, and John Treacy Egan as Chef Louis.
- 1/10/2014
- BroadwayWorld.com
Today in 2006, Grey Gardens opened at the Walter Kerr Theatre, where it ran for 307 performances. Grey Gardens is a musical with book by Doug Wright, music by Scott Frankel, and lyrics by Michael Korie, based on the 1975 documentary of the same title about the lives of Edith Ewing Bouvier Beale 'Big Edie' and her daughter Edith Bouvier Beale 'Little Edie' by Albert and David Maysles. The Beales were Jacqueline Kennedy's aunt and cousin, respectively. Set at Grey Gardens, the Bouviers' mansion in East Hampton, New York, the musical tracks the progression of the two women's lives from their original status as rich and socially polished aristocrats to their eventual largely isolated existence in a home overrun by cats and cited for repeated health code violations.
- 11/2/2013
- BroadwayWorld.com
Ghostlight Records will celebrate their Original Broadway Cast Recording of the new musical Hands On A HARDBODYwith two special events in September. Amanda Green, the show's co-composer and lyricist and book writer Doug Wright, as well as several stars of the show, will appear at an in-store performance and CD signing at Barnes amp Noble on the Upper East Side 150 East 86th Street, between Lexington and Third Avenues. The event will feature original Broadway cast members Keith Carradine, Keala Settle, Janet Krupin, Corey March, Kathleen Elizabeth Monteleone, Jim Newman, Connie Ray, Jon Rua and Dale Soules. The exclusive event will take place tonight, September 4 at 700 Pm. Call 212 369-2180 for details.
- 9/4/2013
- by BWW News Desk
- BroadwayWorld.com
Today in 2009, The Little Mermaid closed at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, where it ran for 685 performances. The Little Mermaid is based on the animated 1989 Disney film of the same name and the classic story of The Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Andersen. The musical's book is by Doug Wright, music by Alan Menken and lyrics by the late Howard Ashman written for the film and new lyrics by Glenn Slater. The original cast featured Sierra Boggess in the title role of Ariel, Sean Palmer as Prince Eric, Brian D'Addario and Trevor Braun alternate as Flounder, Norm Lewis as King Triton, Sherie Rene Scott as Ursula, Tituss Burgess as Sebastian, Tyler Maynard as Flotsam, Derrick Baskin as Jetsam, Jonathan Freeman as Grimsby, and John Treacy Egan as Chef Louis.
- 8/30/2013
- by Stage Tube
- BroadwayWorld.com
Ghostlight Records will celebrate their Original Broadway Cast Recording of the new musical Hands On A HARDBODYwith two special events in September. Amanda Green, the show's co-composer and lyricist and book writer Doug Wright, as well as several stars of the show, will appear at an in-store performance and CD signing at Barnes amp Noble on the Upper East Side 150 East 86th Street, between Lexington and Third Avenues. The event will feature original Broadway cast members Keith Carradine, Keala Settle, Janet Krupin, Corey March, Kathleen Elizabeth Monteleone, Jim Newman, Connie Ray, Jon Rua and Dale Soules.
- 8/27/2013
- by BWW News Desk
- BroadwayWorld.com
Ghostlight Records will present the Original Broadway Cast Recording of the new musical Hands On A Hardbody both in stores and via online outlets on August 27. The musical features a book by Doug Wright Pulitzer Prize winner, I Am My Own Wife, lyrics by Amanda Green Bring It On The Musical, and music byTrey Anastasio Phish and Amanda Green. The show was nominated for three 2013 Tony Awards, including Best Original Score, and nine 2013 Drama Desk Awards, including Outstanding Musical, Outstanding Music and Outstanding Lyrics. The album features The Tryers, a special bonus song that was cut from the show. To pre-order the album, please visit www.sh-k-boom.comhandsonahardbody.html.
- 7/2/2013
- by BWW News Desk
- BroadwayWorld.com
New York — There was a time when most of the songs played on the radio came from Broadway. Now some popular hit makers like Cyndi Lauper and Sting are finding it still feels like home.
"Look, they don't break your balls that much here," Lauper said of the experience of composing "Kinky Boots," her debut musical. "Know what I'm saying? They don't friggin' aggravate you as much."
More and more singer-songwriters from the pop world seem to be hearing that siren song: The trickle of pop and rock stars turning to the stage is fast becoming a flood.
Besides Sting and Lauper, stars such as Sheryl Crow, John Mellencamp, Sarah McLachlan, Tori Amos, Edie Brickell, David Byrne, Fatboy Slim, Burt Bacharach, Elvis Costello and The Flaming Lips are making musicals.
The reasons are as varied as the different sounds those artists create: Broadway represents a new challenge. Or it offers...
"Look, they don't break your balls that much here," Lauper said of the experience of composing "Kinky Boots," her debut musical. "Know what I'm saying? They don't friggin' aggravate you as much."
More and more singer-songwriters from the pop world seem to be hearing that siren song: The trickle of pop and rock stars turning to the stage is fast becoming a flood.
Besides Sting and Lauper, stars such as Sheryl Crow, John Mellencamp, Sarah McLachlan, Tori Amos, Edie Brickell, David Byrne, Fatboy Slim, Burt Bacharach, Elvis Costello and The Flaming Lips are making musicals.
The reasons are as varied as the different sounds those artists create: Broadway represents a new challenge. Or it offers...
- 5/22/2013
- by AP
- Huffington Post
New York -- Mirroring the tough-luck lives portrayed in Hands on a Hardbody, the economics of Broadway proved too unforgiving for the show, which has posted a closing notice for Saturday April 13. Based on the 1997 documentary by S.R. Bindler, the musical has a book by Pulitzer winner Doug Wright (I Am My Own Wife), lyrics by Amanda Green, and an original score co-written by Phish frontman Trey Anastasio and Green. Neil Pepe directed the production, with an ensemble cast led by Keith Carradine and Hunter Foster. Like the film, the show chronicles an endurance contest held
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- 4/9/2013
- by David Rooney
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
An odd, homemade blend of Garrison Keillor and Jackass, as filtered through an early Errol Morris-like lens, S.R. Bindler’s 1997 documentary Hands on a Hard Body is now having one of the most unexpected independent film second lives ever. Hands on a Hard Body the film has led to Hands on a Hardbody the Broadway musical, starring Keith Carradine, directed by Neil Pepe, with a book by Pulitzer-Prize winner Doug Wright and a score by Phish’s Trey Anastasio and Amanda Green. It opened at the Brooks Atkinson Theater last week, and Charles Isherwood wrote in the New York Times, “…this …...
- 3/28/2013
- by Scott Macaulay
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
In 2005, Richard Vega removed his hands from a truck in the lot of Patterson Nissan, the most famous car dealership in Longview, Texas. It was an unexpected move for Vega, until then a fierce competitor in the dealership’s annual “Hands On A Hardbody” contest. Whoever’s hand stayed on the truck the longest got to keep it.
Vega disconnected three minutes before the break whistle (the rules entailed five-minute breaks on the hour, 15-minute breaks every six hours, with no sitting, leaning, squatting, or sleeping in between). “He took it very personally," a BBC reporter covering the contest later recalled, trying to make sense of what happened next. Vega crossed the street to the Kmart, threw a trash can through the entrance, stole a shotgun and shells from the sporting goods section, and killed himself.
How far off the edge will the desire for a pickup truck push someone?...
Vega disconnected three minutes before the break whistle (the rules entailed five-minute breaks on the hour, 15-minute breaks every six hours, with no sitting, leaning, squatting, or sleeping in between). “He took it very personally," a BBC reporter covering the contest later recalled, trying to make sense of what happened next. Vega crossed the street to the Kmart, threw a trash can through the entrance, stole a shotgun and shells from the sporting goods section, and killed himself.
How far off the edge will the desire for a pickup truck push someone?...
- 3/22/2013
- by Mallika Rao
- Huffington Post
One kind of source material rarely exploited for musicals is the documentary. I’m not looking forward to a singing version of Capturing the Friedmans. But Doug Wright (who pulled off the trick with Grey Gardens) must like the grit and rhythm of real-life drama. His adaptation of the 1997 film Hands on a Hard Body into a musical of almost the same name (The last two words have mysteriously become one) features tough times, moral uplift, and alt-country songs by musical-theater royalty Amanda Green and Trey Anastasio of Phish.The story is vastly and smartly tightened; instead of giving us two dozen Texans competing in an endurance contest to win an Aztec-red Nissan (quite unsexy, but it gets entrance applause), the musical focuses on ten. Each struggles to keep a paw on the prize; the last to drop from exhaustion or dementia after several days will go home with the keys.
- 3/22/2013
- by Jesse Green
- Vulture
A new musical about a car dealership contest in Texas might not be what you would expect from Phish frontman Trey Anastasio. In Hands on a Hardbody, there are no 15 minute guitar-heavy, lyrics-free, pot-fueled run-on jams, just a collection of stories about the people competing in a small town contest to win a pickup truck, focusing on 10 characters with their hands firmly fixed on the Nissan in question. Below, Anastasio and lyricist/co-composer Amanda Green (Bring It On: The Musical) discuss the show, which opens on Broadway this Thursday, and preview some of the songs from the new musical.
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- 3/20/2013
- by Laura Hertzfeld
- EW.com - PopWatch
New York — To get his latest gig, Phish founder Trey Anastasio successfully wooed Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Doug Wright over a plate of enchiladas.
The two men – joined by their mutual friend, the lyricist and composer Amanda Green – met for the first time over Mexican food at a Chelsea restaurant. They were there to discuss the possibility of taking a huge step together – turning the 1997 documentary "Hands on a Hardbody" into a stage musical.
Wright, who wrote "I Am My Own Wife" and the musical "Grey Gardens," obviously knew about Phish, but confessed, "I immediately associated them with their Ben & Jerry's flavor." Would Anastasio be able to win him over to join their team?
"When I sat down, he gave one of the most thrilling, impromptu dissertations on why the overture to `Gypsy' is one of the most seminal pieces of American theater music," Wright recalls. "I almost choked on my refried beans.
The two men – joined by their mutual friend, the lyricist and composer Amanda Green – met for the first time over Mexican food at a Chelsea restaurant. They were there to discuss the possibility of taking a huge step together – turning the 1997 documentary "Hands on a Hardbody" into a stage musical.
Wright, who wrote "I Am My Own Wife" and the musical "Grey Gardens," obviously knew about Phish, but confessed, "I immediately associated them with their Ben & Jerry's flavor." Would Anastasio be able to win him over to join their team?
"When I sat down, he gave one of the most thrilling, impromptu dissertations on why the overture to `Gypsy' is one of the most seminal pieces of American theater music," Wright recalls. "I almost choked on my refried beans.
- 3/14/2013
- by AP
- Huffington Post
Today in 2008, The Little Mermaid opened at the Lunt Fontanne Theatre, where it ran for 685 performances. The Little Mermaid is based on the animated 1989 Disney film of the same name and the classic story of The Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Andersen. The musical's book is by Doug Wright, music by Alan Menken and lyrics by the late Howard Ashman written for the film and new lyrics by Glenn Slater. The musical had a pre-Broadway tryout in Denver, Colorado in July through early September 2007. The original cast featured Sierra Boggess in the title role of Ariel, Sean Palmer as Prince Eric, Brian D'Addario and Trevor Braun alternate as Flounder, Norm Lewis as King Triton, Sherie Rene Scott as Ursula, Tituss Burgess as Sebastian, Tyler Maynard as Flotsam, Derrick Baskin as Jetsam, Jonathan Freeman as Grimsby, and John Treacy Egan as Chef Louis.
- 1/10/2013
- by Stage Tube
- BroadwayWorld.com
Today in 2006, Grey Gardens opened at the Walter Kerr Theatre, where it ran for 307 performances. Grey Gardens is a musical with book by Doug Wright, music by Scott Frankel, and lyrics by Michael Korie, based on the 1975 documentary of the same title about the lives of Edith Ewing Bouvier Beale Big Edie and her daughter Edith Bouvier Beale Little Edie by Albert and David Maysles. The Beales were Jacqueline Kennedy's aunt and cousin, respectively. Set at Grey Gardens, the Bouviers' mansion in East Hampton, New York, the musical tracks the progression of the two women's lives from their original status as rich and socially polished aristocrats to their eventual largely isolated existence in a home overrun by cats and cited for repeated health code violations.
- 11/2/2012
- by Stage Tube
- BroadwayWorld.com
"Hands on a Hardbody," the new musical about 10 down-on-their-luck Texans vying to win a new truck by being the last to keep a hand on the vehicle, is set to open on Broadway March 21, 2013, at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre. Inspired by true events and based on S.R. Bindler's 1997 documentary of the same name, the musical features a book by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Doug Wright ("I Am My Own Wife"), lyrics by Amanda Green ("Bring It On: The Musical") and music by Green and Trey Anastasio of Phish. Also...
- 10/2/2012
- by Lisa Fung
- The Wrap
Hands on a Hard Body, the new musical based on S.R. Bindler's award-winning 1997 documentary about an endurance competition organized by a Texas car dealership, has secured a Broadway berth, beginning previews Feb. 23 for a March 21 opening at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre. The show had its world premiere early this summer at La Jolla Playhouse in San Diego. Doug Wright, a Pulitzer and Tony winner for his 2004 solo play I Am My Own Wife, penned the book for the musical, while Trey Anastasio of prog-rock band Phish wrote the music, with lyrics by Amanda
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- 10/2/2012
- by David Rooney
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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