Amélie (musical)

Amélie
Music Daniel Messé
Lyrics Daniel Messé
Nathan Tysen
Book Craig Lucas
Basis 2001 film Amélie
Premiere September 11, 2015: Berkeley Repertory Theatre
Productions 2015 Berkeley
2016 Los Angeles

Amélie is a musical based on the 2001 romantic comedy film with music by Daniel Messé, lyrics by Messé and Nathan Tysen and a book by Craig Lucas. The musical premiered at Berkeley Repertory Theatre in September 2015.

Productions

Daniel Messé (of Hem) wrote the lyrics with Nathan Tysen, Craig Lucas wrote the book, and Messé wrote the music in the adaptation of the movie for the stage.[1][2]

Berkeley Repertory Theatre production

Amélie had its premiere at Berkeley Repertory Theatre. The musical was directed by Pam MacKinnon and starred Samantha Barks in the title role of Amélie, with scenic and costume design by David Zinn, lighting design by Jane Cox and Mark Barton and projections by Peter Nigrini.[3][4]

Los Angeles production

It was announced in June 2016 that the production will open at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles running from December 4, 2016 to January 15, 2017[2] before opening on Broadway in 2017 with Tony Award nominee Phillipa Soo taking over the role of Amélie.[5] The cast for the Los Angeles and Broadway productions includes Adam Chanler-Berat, Manoel Felciano, and Tony Sheldon.[6]

Broadway

The musical will open on Broadway at the Walter Kerr Theatre on March 9, 2017 in previews, officially on April 3.[7]

Plot synopsis

*From the original Berkeley premiere. This is subject to change in the upcoming LA and Broadway run.

The musical opens with an introduction to all of the major characters introducing themselves, and explaining how everything in life is connected. They all come together to announce the birth of Amélie Poulain on September 3, 1975 ("Everyone is Connected"). The young Amélie is born to a germaphobe father, Raphael, and neurotic mother, Amandine, and she feels isolated and emotionally distant from her parents. She takes solace in her telescope, which she uses to view the universe from afar. Her only contact with her parents comes in the form of a daily health check-up from her father. One day, Amélie gets so excited to see him that her heart races, and Raphael misdiagnoses her with a heart condition ("World's Best Dad").

Her parents, paranoid, begin to homeschool Amélie and cut off all of her contact with the outside world. In a lesson with her Amandine one day, Amélie imagines her goldfish, Fluffy, coming alive and speaking to her ("World's Best Friend"). When Amélie allows Fluffy to jump into her drink glass, her parents panic and force Amélie to release Fluffy into the Seine. Feeling bad, Amandine takes Amélie to Notre Dame to make up for what happened, and Amandine prays for guidance on how to deal with Amélie ("World's Best Mom"). When they leave the cathedral, Amandine is crushed and killed by a suicidal tourist who leapt from the top of it. The death hits Raphael hard, and he builds a shrine in their home to Amandine, complete with a garden gnome.

Years pass, and Amélie becomes bored with her quiet life and distant father, and she decides to leave home. Five years later, she is a waitress at a café in Monmarte ("Five Years"). She has a quiet, happy life, and spends her time with her three co-workers: Suzanne, the café's owner and a past circus performer, Georgette, a hypochondriac, and Gina. Some of Amélie's regular costumers include Gina's ex-boyfriend Joesph, Hipolito, a poet, and Philomene, an air hostess.

On the night of Princess Diana's death, Amélie discovers a box of childhood treasures belonging to the man who used to own her apartment. She is determined to find the owner and anonymously deliver the box to him, and if the owner is touched by her gesture, she resolves that she will become an anonymous do-gooder. She first meets with a cranky grocer, Colignon, who constantly abuses his assistant, Luicen, a mentally-ill young man that has an obsession with fruit ("Figs"). Colignon tells Amélie to confer with his mother on the other side of town.

At the train station, Amélie spots a man her age, Nino, who she is attracted to. However, the train arrives before she can introduce herself to him. At Colignon's mother's home, Amélie learns the surname of the box's owner: Bredotoeau. When Amélie returns home Nino spots her on the street, noticing how pretty she is and finds himself intrigued with the box.

Time passes, and Amélie's search for Bredotoeau isn't working out. One day, she speaks to her neighbor, Raymond Dufayel—an artist who suffers from a brittle bone disease, giving him the nickname 'The Glass Man'—and, possibly recognizing the box, tells her that Bredotoeau is the incorrect name. The man was really called Bretodeau. Dufayel then shows Amélie his recreation of the painting The Luncheon of the Boating Party, remarking on Amélie's isolation ("The Girl with the Glass").

Amélie discovers Bretodeau in the phonebook and calls him from a payphone, telling him where he can pick up the box ("How To Tell Time"). When Bretodeau finds it, he reflects on his childhood and decides to call his ex-wife and arrange to meet their son. Taking it as a sign, Amélie continues her good-doing.

Later that night, Amélie has a strange dream where she imagines her lavish funeral in the style of Princess Diana's, where she is dubbed 'Godmother of the Unloved' – someone who gives herself to help others despite not being able to find her own love. Amélie suddenly realizes she hasn't helped her father ("Goodbye Amélie") and visits him the next day and tries to convince him to leave home. He refuses, saying he can't leave the garden gnome, so Amélie secretly steals it as she leaves. On her way home, she spots Nino again at the train station, where he drops a photo album on the ground that Amélie takes.

Amélie explores the album with Dufayel, and finds it is full of photo-booth photographs, one of which is a picture of a man who appears over and over again, expressionless. Nino appears and explains the meaning of the photos to the company ("Where We Go From Here"). Amélie watches him from the distance, and Dufayel, seeing her attraction to him, encourages her to give the album back and meet Nino.

Amélie seeks out his place of work, a sex shop, and she goes dressed as a nun. While she waits for Nino, the other employees mock him, unknowingly painting him as a perfect match for Amélie. However, when he arrives, Amélie runs away. He chases her but she escapes and reflects on her childhood, remembering how her mother told her to never get too close to anyone ("Halfway to Go"). Amélie then calls Nino, but refuses to give him her identity, instead sending him a photo of her in another disguise and a riddle to solve.

At the café, Amélie secretly instigates a romantic encounter between Joseph and Georgette. Her father then turns up, telling Amélie about the missing gnome and how he has been getting anonymous postcards detailing the gnome's travels ("Travels of a Gnome"). The travels encouraged Raphael to step out of the house to look for him, and Amélie uses the opportunity to get him to relax and embrace the change, while introducing him to Suzanne, who he falls for.

Meanwhile, Nino has been searching Paris for Amélie, and handing out posters with her photo on them to anyone he sees, wondering how he's fallen for someone who doesn't want to be found ("Thin Air"). While doing another of her good deeds—spray painting a quote from one of Hipolito's poems on walls around Paris—Amélie notices the flyers and runs home, sending Nino another photo and instructions to meet her at the Monmarte Carousel.

Amélie constructs an elaborate trail to lead Nino to the album ("Trail of Breadcrumbs") and watches him follow it. When he finds the album, she calls out to him, asking about the man in the photo-booth. However, Nino is more interested in seeing her face, and she agrees to meet him at the café on Tuesday.

Tuesday arrives and Nino is late for the meeting, prompting Amélie to imagine an elaborate story to his reasoning ("Nino is Late/How to Tell Time (Reprise)"). Meanwhile, Georgette is overwhelmed by Joseph's clingy nature. Nino shows up, but when he recognizes Amélie, she finds herself nervous and runs from him. Hurt and tired, Nino leaves, but the girls in the café go after him just as Amélie reconsiders and returns. Asking of Nino's whereabouts, Joseph lies and says he went off with Gina. Heartbroken, Amélie returns home.

Outside the café, Gina and Suzanne demand to know Nino's intentions with Amélie ("A Lover for the Ages"). Nino says he is honestly in love with her, and needs to know her how she feels for him. Touched, Georgette gives him Amélie's address.

At home, Dufayel tries to talk to Amélie, but she angrily tells him to stay out of her business, not stopping to hear that he has finally gotten out of his rut and painted a unique picture: a portrait of her. As she goes inside, Nino shows up outside her door and begs a conflicted Amélie to let him inside and stop running from him ("Stay"). She is convinced to let Nino inside when Dufayel, through the apartment's window, shows Amélie his painting and insists that she'll regret not trying a relationship with Nino.

She opens the door and tells Nino she wants to be with him. He tells her he loves her, even if she cannot love him back ("Halfway to Go (Reprise)"). They kiss and Amélie takes him to the photo booth, where she shows him the answer to the mystery of the man in the album: he's the repairman who takes a photo after fixing the booth, to check if it works properly. They go into the photo booth, taking pictures together, and reflecting on their newfound happiness as the company watches on ("Finale").

Songs

Principal roles and major casts

Character Berkeley Repertory Theatre (2015)[4] Ahmanson Theatre (2016) Broadway (2017)
Amélie Samantha Barks Phillipa Soo
Young Amélie Savvy Crawford
Nino Adam Chanler-Berat
Dufayel / Colignon Tony Sheldon
Raphael / Bretodeaux John Hickock Manoel Felciano
Amandine / Philomene Alison Cimmet
Suzanne Maria-Christina Oliveras
Gina Carla Duren Harriet D. Foy
Georgette Alyse Alan Louis
Blind Beggar / Garden Gnome David Andino
Hipoloto Randy Blair
Joseph Paul Whitty
Lucien Perry Sherman Heath Calvert

Differences from 2001 film

Several plot points from the movie have been changed, cut or rearranged including:

Reception

The opening night review at Berkeley Rep from the San Francisco Chronicle gave the show a rave review saying, "wit crackles and charm fills the house…in this seamless blend of visual, narrative and performance delights."[8]

References

  1. "Amelie musical to be made for Broadway". BBC. August 23, 2013.
  2. 1 2 " 'Amelie, A New Musical' Los Angeles" centertheatregroup.org, accessed October 18, 2016
  3. Hetrick, Adam (August 22, 2013). "Dan Messé, Craig Lucas and Nathan Tysen Adapting "Amélie" as Stage Musical; Pam MacKinnon at the Helm". Playbill. Retrieved November 18, 2016.
  4. 1 2 "Amélie, A New Musical at Berkeley Rep". Berkeley Repertory Theatre. Retrieved 2016-06-18.
  5. Amelie Los Angeles Times, June 21. 2016
  6. Viagas, Robert. "Full Cast Announced for Broadway-Aimed Amélie Musical" Playbill, October 17, 2016
  7. Viagas, Robert. " 'Amélie' Musical Books Broadway Dates and Theatre" Playbill, November 16, 2016
  8. Hurwitt, Robert. "Fanciful film floats dreamily onto the stage with ‘Amélie’" sfgate.com, September 2015

External links

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