NYTimes.com: The Tony Award-winning director John Rando, who earned critical acclaim last month for staging the Broadway revival of “On the Town,” is in advanced negotiations to direct the new musical “King Kong” that is aiming for Broadway, a spokesman for the “Kong” producer confirmed on Thursday. Mr. Rando is flying this weekend to Australia, where “Kong” was developed and had a tryout run last year, for several days of discussions with the producer about overhauling the show for New York.
12 comments:
I am so excited for this to hit Broadway, not really for the story line, but for the designs! There is so much that can be done with the aesthetics of the production and the special effects. The line about this show driving to be the next big thing in special effects on Broadway is really exciting. Large puppets on a large stage have turned out to be well done in the past, mainly for War Horse. Puppets are a great tool for audience members to suspend belief for the show and see the puppet as a real creature. At the same time it is really disappointing that the script and score were not very strong. I hope the next people that are coming on the production will make the script and music match the designs. Shows are so weak when the technical components are stronger than the actual show. The great thing about War Horse was that every aspect of the production was beautiful and beautifully done.
"But the script and score received harsher reviews." I hope this production doesn't turn into another Spider Man, where the production design and technology used is spectacular (although in Spiderman's case also quite dangerous), yet the music and acting is so laughably poor that no one can take the production seriously. While I am beyond delighted to see large scale puppetry hit Broadway (although it has nothing on The Lion King) it would be a shame if the magic of the invention was the only thing spectacular about the musical. While some designers seem to think it is enough to simply 'wow' an audience, I think that having a boring story and terrible music weakens even the most incredible of physical achievements. The real challenge, and the real magic, comes when the audience can forget the fact that there is a giant puppet weighing thousands of pounds being manipulated by cables, and instead see the story of this giant ape and the effect it has on the humans who encounter it.
I have heard very mixed reviews of the current production of this show. I think it, like other highly technical shows, can go one of two directions. First, it could be like Wicked, where the technical elements are so highly integrated into the world of the play and the story that the audience takes them for granted in this other world. Or it could be like spiderman, and be a special effects show without much substance or story backing it up. So far it seems like much more of the latter, but hopefully a new director will breathe some new life into the production. I think its a really cool concept so i would like to see it do well!
I hope that this show doesn't go in the way of some shows that focus on the design's "wow" factor instead of the quality of the script and score. I am so excited to see such large scale puppetry onstage, and my fingers are crossed that they can revive the script to match the power of the design. I am fascinated by puppetry, and thinking about ways to make puppetry more realistic through breath and other life-like tics that we barely register is incredibly interesting. I hope that the giant ape has that kind of effect on the audience in the show!
While being exposed to the story of King Kong as a young child and being scared for life I am genuinely hoping the director succeeds in his mission of getting this show to Broadway. While I don't know if the director has changed the story at all for his version of a stage adaptation, I don't remember hearing any kind of rave reviews about the show itself. But rather everyone raving about the technology behind the puppet of King Kong itself. Granted it should be the most grand part of the show because it's the basis of the story. I just hope it doesn't fall into the trap of Matilda and Rocky where that is the only reason anyone goes to see the show; the technical aspects. But it look's like the shows got a good head on it's shoulders with the relentlessly hard working director.
I'm a big fan of large scale puppetry. It's incredible to watch how many people need to work together in complete unison to create such a large creature move so realistically across the stage. Even more impressive is that the puppeteers cannot communicate with one another. All motions must be tirelessly rehearsed and memorized because with some many microphones all over the stage, any directions given amongst the crew would be picked up instantly. These technicians must not only know what move comes next, but be knowledgeable in how a creature such as king kong would react to the unpredictability of a human actor. When the damsel in distress misses her cue mark, the puppet is able to react gracefully if the controllers are paying attention. Such technique often requires that technicians study the animal in the wild, as was the case in War Horse.
Overall it seems like a technological triumph and it makes me excited for other shows in the future that might incorporate more puppetry into their designs.
I'm very excited by the idea that this may come to Broadway. Last year, I was completely astonished when I saw a video about the Kong puppet. But I believe that the theater where this was produced in Melbourne had to physically expand in order to accommodate this puppet. I sort of accepted that with renovations like that required, it was unlikely it could come to the United States, although I guess if the right people want to do something on Broadway, they'll work very hard to make it happen. The fact that the script and the score were not well reviewed is a big concern, it would be unfortunate to see such a beautiful and sophisticated puppet in a show lacking the appropriate support. But the producer has hired a new book writer and director which hopefully means there is the potential for a stronger overall production.
I think this sounds like a really cool broadway idea that seems like it would be great but just won't hit the mark. If this musical succeeds doing everything technically that they set out to do with their 20ft tall King Kong puppet, the show will doubtlessly be really cool, however thats no guarantee of success on broadway. If anything this musical's biggest pitfall will be a focus on the technical side of the production and an ignorance towards the rest of it. As the article says, "the script and score got harsher reviews." Personally I don't even think the movies of King Kong had much going for them besides the cool visuals of a giant ape destroying New York City. With the plot already being flimsy and weak I think this production team has a lot of work to do before they try to turn a flashy old-school hollywood movie into a successful broadway show with a driving script and score. If this show ever makes it to broadway it'll likely be a huge, technically coo,l animatronic flop. I only hope that I'm proven wrong.
This sounds so exciting! I'm sure the puppetry involved in this production is going to be huge, intricate, and definitely something truly innovative. It's always a disappointment when other elements that make up the show, like the script and the score, don't match up to the designs. Then again, Phantom of the Opera's first script was horrendous, and now look at how big it is because of rewrites done to the show. I don't think a show like this will have a problem becoming a big on Broadway, and they have plenty of time in Melbourne to figure out a better script and score if need be. Although based on all the declined interviews, I don't know if Mr. Rando or Ms. Pavlovic have much faith in this project coming to Broadway. I hope everything works out, because I'd much rather drive to NYC to see it rather than fly to Melbourne.
What a show this would be if it were put on. People say new is always better, or is it bigger is better. Who knows, I think this show would fit both cards. A puppet of this size, would take some skill to maneuver, now what I wonder is if it is and probably will be a mechanical puppet or by manual skill. By the looks of the rigging picture, it looks like it would take a monstrosity amount of skill to control the different variables to the right direction. This is no making shows animated with the use of the copters that we talked about the last few weeks, this is in a whole new ball game. I wondered how long it would take for shows of this size to make it to the big stage, and it looks as though we aren’t too far away from that scenario. Sure people have put on big shows with large sets, but to have something of this size move around and become an object to work off of, is definitely in a league of its own.
I think that they need to be very careful to not go down the Spiderman path again. I think that it is time for Broadway to get another big effect show. From the article it sounds like they are focusing more on the effects and need more focus on the actual story and music. Also there are going to be a lot of safety problems with a huge ape flying around stage on cables.
I'm excited to see how they are thinking of bringing King Kong to life on stage. I have no experience with functioning or even really watching puppets so I don't really know what limits it would put on the production. I would just hope that they don't make it very showy and cartoon like. I saw this in spiderman on broadway and it did a superb job of turning my interest off. I would want the ape to be as realistic as possible, though I don't know how much realism you can get out of an actual puppet.
I'm wondering how they would get the facial structure of the ape to change according to the structure of the play. If details like this were not completely explored and exhausted to make the ape really realistic, I think it would simply take me out of the play. Of course, everyone in that audience is going to notice it's fake the second they see it walk on stage, but it should strive to be completely realistic, down to finger movements and all.
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