(MENAFN- Arab Times) There is a coffin sitting onstage. A lesbian is the narrator. There are no movie stars in it. And we are promised a suicide by Page 9 of the script. "Fun Home," which goes into Sunday's Tony Awards tied for the most nominations, doesn't sound like it has the makings of a hit in New York, much less on the road. Think again.
While in the past most shows waited until Tonys were handed out before planning a tour, "Fun Home" announced a national tour during the 2016-17 season weeks before the ceremony, a sign that appetites for challenging fare is on the rise.
"We are living in an exciting time," said Kristin Caskey, a "Fun Home" producer. "I don't know if this would have existed 10 years ago."
The poignant show, based on Alison Bechdel's graphic novel memoir about growing up as a lesbian with a closeted dad, coincides with the Supreme Court preparing to rule on whether to allow same-sex marriage nationwide.
"The show is capturing something about the cultural consciousness that is about this present moment," said Sam Gold, its director. "This is the moment for a show like 'Fun Home.'"
Broadway bookers and producers have had nervous moments before such recent edgy shows as "The Book of Mormon" and "Kinky Boots" hit the road, but they went on to considerable success.
"We all, as an industry, have underestimated or been condescending maybe about what the American public has an appetite for," said Meredith Blair, president of The Booking Group, one of the top agencies.
Blair, whose 12-member team is planning the tours of "Fun Home," "Something Rotten!" "An American in Paris" and "Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time," among many others, learned plenty when she booked the tour for "Rent."
"That was my first lesson that, wait a minute, why do we think they want to see it in New York and they don't want to see it in their hometown?'" she said.
Edgy
Naturally, more mainstream shows like "The Sound of Music" or "Wicked" are popular, but she said there's always a place for edgy and provocative, too.
"The presenters really do try to balance their seasons out. Having an entire season of old classics or revivals, their audiences are going to be bored," she said.
Laura Kepley, the artistic director of the Cleveland Play House, said theater professionals have to be bold and provocative or risk losing audiences to film, TV and video games.
"As a producer, I always think, 'Why aim for the middle?' I don't want people to go, 'Oh, that was nice.' That's not changing lives. That's not changing attitudes. That's not changing your community."
Gold said he's often approached by people stunned that they connected with "Fun Home," despite its very specific story. "It's not because everyone has a closeted father who kills himself. It's because everyone has a father," he said. "Everyone has a crazy family."
At the moment, the road is full and several shows are pulling in $1 million a week. The coming season promises new tours of "Finding Neverland," "On the Town," "The King and I," "Into the Woods" and "The Bodyguard," as well as shows already out there, like "Motown," "The Lion King," "Jersey Boys," "Pippin" and "Cinderella."
Good reviews are nice, but they don't guarantee a hit, as "Honeymoon in Vegas" learned this season. "The road responds more to the box office in New York than they do the reviews," Blair said. "If you've got both, man, it's a home run."
"Fun Home" got both, and its creators and producers are proud that a musical with a lesbian character as its lead - unprecedented for Broadway - will tour the nation.
"Many people asked us, 'Is this commercial?' 'How are people going to respond to this?' We felt that as much as it was Alison's unique story, there was also universal ideas and themes at work here," Caskey said.
"What's been incredibly gratifying is that those universal themes are resonating, and that's why the show is getting the response that it's getting."
Also:
NEW YORK: Strange as it may sound, Stephen Schwartz has never won a Tony Award.
The man who has delighted musical theater audiences with shows like "Pippin," "Godspell" and "Wicked" has received numerous Tony nominations but has always come up empty.
But that will change on Sunday when the 67-year old composer receives the annual Isabelle Stevenson Award. He's getting the honor for his commitment to serving artists and fostering new talent.
"This is a really nice award because it has to do with the things that one has done that aren't on a stage within the 15 blocks of Broadway," Schwartz said with a smile.
Schwartz has spent a great deal of time mentoring young writers through the ASCAP Foundation, holding musical theater workshops throughout the country, and steadying the helm at the Dramatists Guild.
He clearly sees a distinction between the professional and personal accolades, and the latter means a lot to him.
"I've won a few professional resume awards in my time, probably lost more of them that I've won. But the point is that none of them felt quite as good as this, to be honest about it," Schwartz said.
He added: "What we do in our lives is what gives us contentment and serenity and makes us feel like we are doing some kind of contribution."
The Isabelle Stevenson Award is presented to a representative of the theater community who has made a contribution through humanitarian, charitable, or social services.
"What I liked about the award is that it recognizes the personal resume. I've been doing these things for many years, so it's nice to be recognized."
Named for the late president of the American Theatre Wing, it was first presented at the 2009 Tony Awards ceremony. Other recipients have included David Hyde Pierce, Eve Ensler and Larry Kramer.
Without hesitation, Schwartz mentions one of his favorite works as the show that sums up his strong moral compass.
"I think 'Children of Eden' is the most obvious one because that's what that one is all about. Though I've been accused by some critics of sermonizing and being preachy."
NEW YORK: Abbott and Costello's heirs are crying foul after a Broadway play used a satanic sock puppet to perform part of the comedians' famed "Who's on First?" baseball routine.
The copyright holders sued "Hand to God" producers, promoters and playwright Robert Askins on Thursday in Manhattan federal court, demanding unspecified damages as they accused them of copyright infringement.
"Hand to God" will be up for five Tony Awards, including best play, on Sunday. It opened in early April to flattering reviews after previews that began in mid-March.
The play's lead producer, Kevin McCollum, said in an email that the filing of the lawsuit on the eve of the Tony Awards was "obviously nothing more than a stunt, and, frankly, we welcome the attention."
The production's spokesman, Rick Miramontez, added: "The lawsuit is baseless; the material in question is in the public domain, and the show's producer carefully vetted with the production's legal counsel."
The lawsuit claims the play "copied the very heart" of "Who's on First?" with a 1-min, 7-sec portion that was used so the play could more easily be promoted as a comedy as it confronts dark sides of human behavior.
It said the scene taking place 15 mins into the production is "one of the lighter moments of the production, without which the much darker tone of the rest of the play would be very difficult for the audience to handle."
Nothing new, different or transformative happens during the "Who's on First?" segment of the play, the lawsuit said. Sometimes, courts have tossed out copyright lawsuits when it can be shown that copyrighted material was used in a new and transformative way.
The comedy duo Abbott and Costello first performed "Who's on First?" in March 1938 with Lou Costello trying to learn the names of players on a baseball team from William "Bud" Abbott. Laughs ensue when Costello was left perplexed as he grappled with the reality that the first baseman was named "Who," the second baseman, "What," and the third baseman, "I Don't Know."
Costello's daughter, Chris Costello, told The New York Post for its Friday editions: "The legacy of my father is important to me and my family, and we felt that this lawsuit was necessary to protect us."
Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.