CMU School of Drama


Friday, March 12, 2010

Ray Charles bio-musical to Broadway

Variety: "Stuart Benjamin, a producer of the 2004 pic 'Ray,' will bring Ray Charles bio-tuner 'Unchain My Heart' to Broadway in the fall.
Show, with a book by Pulitzer winner Suzan-Lori Parks ('Topdog/Underdog'), incorporates Charles tunes -- including 'Georgia on My Mind,' 'Hit the Road, Jack,' and the title song -- into a retelling of Charles' life story, with the musician's final recording session serving as a storytelling frame."

2 comments:

Devrie Guerrero said...

I think this is a great idea and could do very well. I like the fact that it's based off of somebody's life rather than a fictional character like shrek or spiderman. Shows based off of movies do not seem that original and makes me feel like no one can think of something new. Those shows can be limited because for the most part, the costume and visual designs are limited depending on what it was based off.
I will say that shows like shrek and spiderman do have more technically creative with flying effects and such.

Ethan Weil said...

It sounds like this might not be so much a direct adaptation of the movie, but another presentation of the biography. I really enjoyed Ray, and hope that this project comes out as well as it did. I tend to really like art that is rooted in our culture, weather or not it is strictly historical or accurate. The idea of keying a story off of something we are familiar with - helping us enter the world of the show is an interesting device.