Chaplin (2006 musical)

Chaplin: The Musical
The Story of Charlie Chaplin
Music	Christopher Curtis
Lyrics	Christopher Curtis
Book	Christopher Curtis Thomas Meehan
Productions	2006 New York Musical Theatre Festival 2010 La Jolla Playhouse 2012 Broadway 2013 St. Petersburg 2014 Theatro NET SP - Brazil 2016 Henderson, Kentucky 2016 israel

Chaplin: The Musical, formerly titled Limelight: The Story of Charlie Chaplin, is a musical with music and lyrics by Christopher Curtis and a book by Curtis and Thomas Meehan. The show is based on the life of Charlie Chaplin. The musical, which started at the New York Musical Theatre Festival in 2006, debuted at the La Jolla Playhouse in 2010, and then premiered on Broadway in 2012.

Productions

• The English productions

By English productions I mean productions in the English language. And the English productions can be categorized geographically into the American productions and the UK production.

The American productions

The historical versions of the American productions for "Chaplin:the musical" are presented in chronological order as follows:

The musical originally ran at the New York Musical Theatre Festival in 2006.^[1][2][3]

The musical was next produced at the La Jolla Playhouse, La Jolla, California, from September 19, 2010 to October 17, 2010. Direction was by Warren Carlyle and Michael Unger, with scenic design by Alexander Dodge, costume design by Linda Cho, lighting design by Paul Gallo, projection design by Zachary Borovay, and sound design by Jon Weston. The music director was Bryan Perri and the orchestrator was Douglas Besterman. The cast featured Rob McClure (Charlie Chaplin), Ashley Brown (Oona), LJ Benet (Young Sydney), Jenn Colella (Hedda Hopper), Eddie Korbich (Karno), Brooke Sunny Moriber (Mildred), Ron Orbach (Mr. Chaplin), Roland Rusinek (Alf), Jake Schwenke (Young Charlie/Jackie), and Matthew Scott (Sydney). The cast also included Aaron Acosta, Courtney Corey, Matthew Patrick Davis, Justin Michael Duval, Sara Edwards, Ben Liebert, Alyssa Marie, Jennifer Noble, Kürt Norby, Carly Nykanen, Jessica Reiner-Harris, and Kirsten Scott.^[4]

The musical premiered on Broadway at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre on August 21, 2012 in previews and officially on September 10, 2012, with direction and choreography by Warren Carlyle. Scenic design is by Beowulf Boritt, costume design by Amy Clark and Martin Pakledinaz, lighting design by Ken Billington, and projection design by Jon Driscoll.^[5] The cast features Rob McClure as Chaplin, Jim Borstelmann as Alf Reeves, Jenn Colella as Hedda Hopper, Erin Mackey as Oona O'Neill, Michael McCormick as Sennett/ McGranery/Emcee, Christiane Noll as Hannah Chaplin, Zachary Unger as Young Charlie/Jackie and Wayne Alan Wilcox as Sydney Chaplin.^[6][7] The musical closed on January 6, 2013, after 24 previews and 136 performances.^[8]

Chaplin received its first regional production in the United States in Henderson, Kentucky. Produced by Brilliantly Different Productions, the show featured direction by J. Farley Norman, choreography by Alexa Callaham, scenic design by Collin Mayes, and costume design by Colleen Ohler. The production ran for three performances, August 5–7, 2016, and featured a cast of 17 performers, all of whom were under the age of 25. In honor of the production, August 1–7, 2016 was declared "Chaplin the Musical Week" by the City of Henderson.

The musical has undergone several title changes, called initially Behind The Limelight, and is titled (as of 2012) Chaplin: The Musical. (This is also the title of another musical, written by Ernest Kinoy, with lyrics by Lee Goldsmith and music by Roger Anderson.)

The UK production

The UK production is neither a replica nor a non-replica production of "Chaplin:the musical", but considering that the information was existing here I'd briefly explain on what this production is like. It is not proper to list this production here, for it is actually another Chaplin-related musical entitled "Chaplin-The Charlie Chaplin Story",featuring an all star West End cast including Steven Arnold (Ashley Peacock in Coronation Street), Nicole Faraday (Bad Girls, Emmerdale), and a full array of amazingly talented Actor-Musicians (‘Once’, ‘Buddy’, ‘The Commitments’), this beautiful and hilarious musical play follows Chaplin through his early career, showbiz ambitions and often-fractious relationship with his mother, family and his first love. This musical is produced by Maple Tree Entertainment Ltd. ^[9]

• The Russian production

Production information

The Russian production of "Chaplin: the musical" premiered on September 13, 2013 and closed on December 30, 2015, at Musical Comedy Theatre of St. Petersburg(Санкт-Петербургский Театр Музыкальной Комедии). This production is a replica production of the original broadway production in the Russian language, featuring Evgeny Zaytsev(Russian:Евгений Зайцев)/Astemir Apanasov(Астемир Апанасов) as Chaplin, Agata Vavilova(Агата Вавилова)/Ksenia Andreeva(Ксения Андреева)/Julia Nadervel(Юлия Надервель) as Hanna Chaplin, Kirill Ulyanov(Кирилл Ульянов)/Anton Avdeev(Антон Авдеев) as Sidney Chaplin, Maria Lagatskaya(Мария Лагацкая)/Anna Lukoyanova(Анна Лукоянова)/Ekaterina Popova(Екатерина Попова) as Hedda Hopper, Maria Elizarova(Мария Елизарова)/Karina Chepurnova(Карина Чепурнова) as Oona O'Neil, Yuri Mazikhin(Юрий Мазихин)/Dmitry Petrov(Дмитрий Петров) as Mack Sennett/ McGranery/Emcee, Platon Belkin(Платон Белькин)/Matthew Shilkin(Матвей Шилкин) as childhood Chaplin, Olga Krasiyh(Ольга Красных)/Victoria Barkanova(Виктория Барканова) as Mildred Harris, etc., with Russian lyrics translated by Constantine Rubinsky.^[10]

Awards and nominations

The Russian production had 4 nominations for 2015's Golden Mask Award and ended up with 3 awards in the musical/operetta category, including Evgeny Zaytsev for best actor in a musical/operetta,Maria Lagatskaya for best actress in a musical/operetta, and the musical itself for best musical/operetta. The award ceremony took place on April 19, 2015 in Moscow, Russia. ^[11]

• The Brazilian Production

The Brazilian Production is a non-replica production to the original broadway production, which made major changes to the original broadway design in setting and costuming. New script and 7 new songs have been added. The new show premiered in Brazil 2015 and became a phenomenon and was extended 5 times. Chaplin received great reviews in Brazil. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXA7GwhG7KM

• Other productions to come

The Belgian production is also a replica production of the broadway production, which will open in December 2016. The musical will also be in Amsterdam at Ria Theater December 20th. The Israeli production will open in 2017.

The show is being produced by Music Hall Productions with a creative team all from the West End of London

Matt Kinley Set Design (Miss Saigon Lis Mis) Luke Halls projections (Royal Opera House)

David Wright Lighting (Miss Saigon)

Mariano Detry Director

Nigel Lilley Music Direction

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLJ0SWjC1Is

Musical numbers

The musical numbers from the 2012 Broadway production are as follows:

Reception

In its review of the La Jolla production, the Los Angeles Times reviewer wrote: "The songs sauté this simplistic summary in a light and lemony schmaltz... The most that can be said is that the cast is marshaled efficiently and the clichés are greeted with a tip of Chaplin's bowler and a clown's forgiving smile... the schematic production... offers up Chaplin's early years as an explanation for everything but his notorious penchant for underage women... The production moves swiftly on Alexander Dodge’s versatile set that is at its lively best when Zachary Borovay’s projections usher us back to the cinematic past... The score hurtles us along with sufficient cheer and generic good will."^[12] The Variety reviewer wrote: "The enormous career of film legend Charles Chaplin has resisted numerous chronicling efforts... The latest casualty is "Limelight," a La Jolla Playhouse collaboration between freshman tunesmith Christopher Curtis and vet librettist Thomas Meehan ... that has its moments but falls into the usual trap of trying to cover too much ground. In the process, the tuner turns glib and superficial."^[13]

A Completely new version of Chaplin is now opening around the world with great success. New script and 7 new songs have been added. The new show premiered in Brazil 2015 and became a phenomenon and was extended 5 times. Chaplin received great reviews in Brazil.

CHAPLIN O MUSICAL De Veja

Review by Dirceu Alves Here is a spectacle able to attract the interest of large audiences. The Music of Christopher Curtis and Thomas Meehan wins Brazilian version of Miguel Falabella and stage direction of Mariano Detry that thrills moviegoers, child or adult and can make even the detractors of the standing applaud genre blockbusters. Recognized as a dancer and singer, Jarbas Homem de Mello reaches overcoming as an actor in the characterization of one of the greatest geniuses of the screens, the Englishman Charles Chaplin (1889-1977). The show runs through his career from poor childhood in London until the consecration in the US and offers a psychological reading of the artist explaining the dubious character or unethical attitudes. This scenic drama overlaps the good musical numbers and do not let the assembly limited to singing or choreography.Marcello Antony is Sidney's brother and future protagonist of the agent, while Naima and Paula Capovilla stand out respectively as the mother, Hannah Chaplin, and the journalist Hedda Hooper. Giulia Nadruz, Paulo Goulart Filho and Leandro Luna part of the cast of 21 actors.Premiered on 14.05.2015.^[14]

Sao Paulo theater By Renata Duran

It's always hard to hit in a biographical musical, there are few examples as Evita and Elisabeth who can dramatize in order to thrill the audience and at the same time without losing its historical picture of value. Chaplin, The Musical overcomes all of these challenges with excellence, a real lesson on how to make a good biographical show.

The musical, which tells the history and challenges of the biggest name in American film, premiered for guests that last Monday, the 18th, the Net theater in São Paulo, produced by Claudia Raia and Chaim Productions. Backstage was there to tell you all about this unmissable music.

The text of Christopher Curtis shows various aspects Chaplin's life, punctuating each relevant time, since his relationship with his mother, his entrance to the theater and later the movies, to his affairs, putting different views to the actor's attitudes.

To star in the show could not be more appropriate artist Jarbas Homem de Mello, in his wonderful performance, Jarbas makes the audience feel the presence of Chaplin, with each well worked move, easily enters this film and is the Tramp.

Another name that should be highlighted is Paula Capovilla, doubt that she has an amazing voice and an enviable technique no one else has, whenever he is on stage everyone can expect the maximum. In Chaplin is no different, actress steals every scene on its soil, and starts an absurd amount of applause from the audience.

The cast also have Naima, wonderful, playing Hannah, Chaplin's mother, Giulia Nadruz, fofíssima, playing the role of Oona, who, with his voice and kind way, winning the audience and Marcello Antony, playing Sydney, the brother and agent the actor.

We can only speak of Matt Kinley scenarios that having already worked in the scenario of Brazilian production of Man of La Mancha, to say nothing of other American musical, as the revival of Les Misérables, takes away the breath bringing the whole universe cinema, making the audience get involved with that environment so that only he knows how.

For anyone who was interested, prepare popcorn, make the tickets and set aside a good hour after the show to review the great successes of Chalie Chaplin.^[15]

'

Awards and nominations

References

External links

• InternetBroadwayDatabase Listing
• Limelight at LaJolla Playhouse
• Playbill Vault Listing