In the halls of the Public Theater, where “Hamilton” started, they’re buzzing about another new musical with a one-word title — “Bunuel.”
That would be Luis Bunuel, the great surrealist director whose films — 1972’s “The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie” and ’62’s “The Exterminating Angel” — are being adapted into a new musical by Stephen Sondheim and David Ives.
Oskar Eustis, the head of the Public, put together a reading of the show last week. It was one of those “top secret” affairs, but sources close to Sondheim — Madame Armfeldt, Georges Seurat and Pseudolus — tell me the show is in great shape.
Well, the first act anyway. Sondheim, a famously slow writer, is still in the throes of writing the second.
“The music was gorgeous,” says one of my spies (let’s call her Mrs. Lovett). “It reminded me of ‘Passion,’ where Steve’s music flows in and out of the storyline. It’s not an old-fashioned Sondheim show — you know, song, dialogue, then a song. It’s much more seamless.”
Eustis put together a cast of Broadway first-raters, including Norm Lewis, Shuler Hensley, Sierra Boggess, Nancy Opel and Marc Kudisch.
There’s no director yet, but Joe Mantello attended the reading, and I don’t think you can get much better than that. Mantello directed a terrific revival of Sondheim’s creepy musical “Assassins” for the Roundabout in 2004. He also staged two of last season’s best plays — “The Humans” and “Blackbird.”
“Bunuel” — that’s the working title — is vintage Sondheim territory: sophisticated, witty, elegant, sharp and boozy. The characters imbibe so often, the prop department is going to have to raid a liquor store.
A source calls Ives’ script “nonlinear.” Translation: It moves backward and forward in time. I hear it’s a bit tricky to follow on the page, but, with Sondheim’s songs, is clear and funny on the stage.
That would be Luis Bunuel, the great surrealist director whose films — 1972’s “The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie” and ’62’s “The Exterminating Angel” — are being adapted into a new musical by Stephen Sondheim and David Ives.
Oskar Eustis, the head of the Public, put together a reading of the show last week. It was one of those “top secret” affairs, but sources close to Sondheim — Madame Armfeldt, Georges Seurat and Pseudolus — tell me the show is in great shape.
Well, the first act anyway. Sondheim, a famously slow writer, is still in the throes of writing the second.
“The music was gorgeous,” says one of my spies (let’s call her Mrs. Lovett). “It reminded me of ‘Passion,’ where Steve’s music flows in and out of the storyline. It’s not an old-fashioned Sondheim show — you know, song, dialogue, then a song. It’s much more seamless.”
Eustis put together a cast of Broadway first-raters, including Norm Lewis, Shuler Hensley, Sierra Boggess, Nancy Opel and Marc Kudisch.
There’s no director yet, but Joe Mantello attended the reading, and I don’t think you can get much better than that. Mantello directed a terrific revival of Sondheim’s creepy musical “Assassins” for the Roundabout in 2004. He also staged two of last season’s best plays — “The Humans” and “Blackbird.”
“Bunuel” — that’s the working title — is vintage Sondheim territory: sophisticated, witty, elegant, sharp and boozy. The characters imbibe so often, the prop department is going to have to raid a liquor store.
A source calls Ives’ script “nonlinear.” Translation: It moves backward and forward in time. I hear it’s a bit tricky to follow on the page, but, with Sondheim’s songs, is clear and funny on the stage.
