The Bullets Over Broadway Musical is but a week away from opening night, and the press is heating up. We’ve collected some pieces that take us behind the scenes. We have new interviews with Woody Allen, Susan Stroman, Marin Mazzie, Nick Cordero and more.
The new Time magazine, which hits stands on 14th April, has a new interview with Woody Allen and Susan Stroman (and currently behind a paywall). They unpack the history and the behind the scenes of the ‘Bullets Over Broadway’.
It turns out the idea of a Woody Allen musical is not a new idea.
For years he resisted offers to turn one of his movies–usually Purple Rose of Cairo or Bullets Over Broadway–into a Broadway musical. Composer Marvin Hamlisch (who wrote the scores for two of Allen’s early movies, Take the Money and Run and Bananas) even wrote a couple of sample songs a few years ago for a Bullets Over Broadway musical. “I said, ‘Look, if you want to do a musical of Bullets, go ahead,’” Allen says. “Then nothing really came of it, and I couldn’t care less.”
Producer Harvey Weinstein pursued the project for a while, but Allen still wanted nothing to do with it.
A ‘Purple Rose Of Cairo‘ musical? Amazing.
The article has plenty more interesting bits, including Allen not remembering Zach Braff from his Manhattan Murder Mystery appearance, to how the songs were chosen.
There’s also a confirmation that the 2015 film will be shot in the US, and that Magic In the Moonlight will be released in July (which is not confirmed anywhere else).
Hit or miss, don’t expect Allen to take aim at Broadway again soon. “It’s not stimulating enough for me,” he says. “I’m interested in my next movie.” Magic in the Moonlight, which he shot last summer in the south of France, will open in July, and he’s writing a new film that he plans to shoot in the U.S. this summer. “I shoot in the summer because the kids are off from school,” says Allen, who has two adopted daughters with his wife Soon-Yi Previn. “We can all go as a family.”
Marin Mazzie is getting plenty of attention for her performance as Helen Sinclair. The role won Dianne Wiest an Oscar, and many are speculating that Mazzie’s performance could lead to a Tony. In the new piece in the Wall Street Journal, it is revealed that she auditioned several times for the role over the course of a year. She was even told she didn’t get it at one point.
Ms. Mazzie heard that Mr. Allen and Ms. Stroman were still looking for their Helen. She hesitated to read for them a second time. But Ms. Mazzie kept running into the show’s scenic designer, Santo Loquasto, who is also her neighbor on the Upper West Side. He finally said to her: “You should really put your hat back in the ring.” In February of last year she reauditioned. She was up against some tough competition: Patti LuPone was among those passed over for the role. A spokesman for Ms. LuPone confirmed the audition. After her second audition, Ms. Mazzie was told only: “There’s interest.”
The story continues and you can find more at WSJ. You can also watch a video of Mazzie taking the WSJ people behind the scenes of the theatre.
Finally, Newsday has a new profile of the whole musical, including new quotes from Nick Cordero, who plays Cheech, who we haven’t heard a lot from. We now know that “Up A Lazy River” is his song.
“The first time I sing it is more crooner-y,” says Cordero. But in the reprise, it’s all menace and threat.
That’s no easy task, playing a credible thug — who sings and dances. And Cordero, whose only previous Broadway credit is “Rock of Ages,” puts forth a solid effort that could earn him a Tony nomination.
“Initially, I wondered if singing would throw off the audience or make the toughness hard to swallow,” says Cordero. “But they’re buying it — and it seems to be an extension of Cheech’s character, an example of his hidden artistry.”
And word that despite his nihilism, Allen is having fun?
“I think he’s enjoyed it,” says Stroman. “It’s his two loves — music and comedy. And for the first time, his real two loves have come together.”
Bullets Over Broadway opens 10th April 2014.
