Hello friends!
Here's the latest good news from the GRUMPY OLD MEN: THE MUSICAL journey to Broadway...
The World Premiere of the show will open this fall at the Royal Manitoba Theatre Center in Winnipeg, Canada! http://www.mtc.mb.ca/Current-Plays/Hirsch/Grumpy-Old-Men.aspx
It's happening!
Rehearsals begin the second week of September, and the official opening will be October 13th. This will be a full production, with all the bells and whistles, including full moving sets, orchestrations, and a fantastic cast. The Canadian production will serve as an old-fashioned out-of-town tryout (now called a "developmental production") prior to mounting a Broadway production, and a major national tour.
Our website has been updated: www.grumpyoldmenthemusical.com. The site has some wonderful photos of some our "star-studded" readings, and some fun musical selections from the show.
Did you watch the Tony Awards? Our GRUMPY orchestrator, Larry Hochman, won a Tony! (It was his fifth nomination so I'm not surprised, but we've got yet another award winner on our staff!) Also, Casey Nicholaw, who directed and choreographed BOOK OF MORMON, went out of his way to thank his outstanding assistant choreographer, our own John MacInnis, who will be doing the choreography for us in Winnipeg. Our team keeps getting better!
Neil Berg and the creative team have been working on the script and score continuously for the last two years and we are in great shape. I can't wait to put it in front of a paying crowd. We've got new songs, funnier jokes, and our story-telling has become more lean and efficient. Bill Castellino has joined the team and will be directing the show.
The timing of our presentation couldn't be more perfect. After all, what we are presenting is a new American musical comedy about a man in middle America who is losing his house. It's aimed precisely at the boomer market, and is perfectly aligned with the demographic of the theatrical ticket buyers. Certainly the GRUMPY OLD MEN brand is an easy sell, and makes our title an obvious draw.
Casting for the Winnipeg production is going wonderfully well.
John Schuck will step into the role of Max for the Canadian production. John is a legendary performer, known to millions of fans on Broadway, and around the world for his TV roles. John's most recent turn on Broadway was starring opposite Reba Macintyre as Col. William F. Cody in the revival of ANNIE GET YOUR GUN. Most Broadway patrons will recognize his from his familiar bald pate, as he has appeared in thousands of performances of the smash hit ANNIE, playing in both the original run in the seventies, and the revival in 1997. His wider fame comes from his role as Sgt. Charles Enright on MacMillan and Wife. He's going to be wonderful in the role, and is one of the nicest guys on the planet. Here's some of my favorite Schuck roles...
Daddy Warbucks on Broadway
in ANNIE |
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The Klingon Ambassador
in STAR TREK IV |
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"Painless Pole" Waldowski
in MASH |
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 Last week we got really lucky, and after weeks of negotiations we were finally able to secure the legendary Broadway performer JOHN RUBINSTEIN to play the role of John Gustafson. John is widely regarded as one of Broadway's greatest leading men, having triumphed in the title role of the Original Broadway Cast of PIPPIN, followed by his Tony Award Winning performance in the original Broadway Production of CHILDREN OF A LESSER GOD. His numerous other celebrated Broadway appearances include: Neil Simon's FOOLS, directed by Mike Nichols, Herman Wouk's THE CAINE MUTINY COURT-MARTIAL (Drama Desk nomination), David Rabe's HURLYBURLY, David Henry Hwang's M. BUTTERFLY, and starred in GETTING AWAY WITH MURDER, by Stephen Sondheim and George Furth, directed by Jack O'Brien. He's also had fantastic success in Hollywood, and has appeared in numerous feature films which include, THE BOYS FROM BRAZIL opposite Sir Laurence Olivier, 21 GRAMS, RED DRAGON, MERCY, ANOTHER STAKEOUT, SOMEONE TO WATCH OVER ME, DANIEL ROME AND JEWEL, JEKYLL, KID COP, GETTING STRAIGHT, ZACHARIAH, THE TROUBLE WITH GIRLS, and THE CAR.
John has been working steadily in television since 1965. Most notably, he received an Emmy Award nomination for his five years portraying Jeff Maitland in the series FAMILY. He co-starred for two years with Jack Warden in the series CRAZY LIKE A FOX, and starred in PERFECT MURDER, PERFECT TOWN. He has subsequently played recurring parts on ANGEL, THE GUARDIAN, THE PRACTICE, STAR TREK: ENTERPRISE, and BARBERSHOP. In the series finale of FRIENDS, he played the doctor who delivered Monica and Chandler's babies. It just wouldn't be fun to read about Mr. Rubinstein without citing just a few examples from the extraordinary list of ‘70's and ‘80's shows on which he has guest-starred: THE MOD SQUAD, IRONSIDE, ROOM 222, THE MARY TYLER MOORE SHOW, HAWAII FIVE-O, THE STREETS OF SAN FRANCISCO, POLICE WOMAN, BARNABY JONES, THE LOVE BOAT, QUINCY M.E., MURDER SHE WROTE, and HIGHWAY TO HEAVEN. You might already know that has composed, orchestrated, and conducted the musical scores for five feature films, including JEREMIAH JOHNSON and THE CANDIDATE, and numerous television films and episodes.
We are in negotiations right now with a fantastic female star to play the role of Ariel, but I can't go public with that information just yet.
Best,
Jeff
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