"The 5000 Fingers of Dr. T" is Broadway Bound
Special Thanks to Glen Roven for the Musical Updates
Bway-Bound 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T Flexing in Pre-Production
25-JUN-2001
Seussical is already just a Broadway memory, but Broadway may not have seen the last of Dr. Seuss. As first reported in August 2000, a musical adaptation of the 1953 fantasy film, "The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T," is in the works, with Simon Callow directing and Quinny Sacks, a West End and international ballet veteran, choreographing. DavidFielding is the set and costume designer. Pat Collins is doing lighting, and Jonathan Deans will do sound design.
Reached June 25, general manager Frank Scardino told Playbill On-Line the project was moving forward with an eye toward getting the piece on its feet by spring 2002. Johnson-Liff will serve as casting directors for the show, to be produced by Dr. T LLC (I.e., Brian Brolly and Michael Jenkins, the latter of Dallas Summer Musicals note).
Composer-lyricist Glen Roven, an Emmy Award with a long career as a musical director and conductor as well as composer for theatre, film and television, including five major Walt Disney programs, has penned the music and lyrics, with Anthony Horowitz writing the book, based on Theodore Geisel's screenplay.
Initially, rehearsals for Dr. T were to start in New York this month, with an out-of-town tryout due in September and a Broadway run in the late fall. It now appears those dates will be pushed a half-year to a year forward, though further information is anticipated from spokespersons by mid-summer.
Asked about the Seuss synergy, general manager Scardino told Playbill On Line Aug. 16, 2000, that Dr. T "is a different kind of show from Seussical. Seussical takes bits and pieces from the source material, whereas Dr. T is very much based on the motion picture written by Theodore Geisel, and it has more human characters than other Seuss stories."
5,000 Fingers of Dr. T tells of a young boy who grudgingly takes piano lessons from Dr. Terwilliker. The youth fantasizes that the evil Dr. T "enlists 500 children to play the concerto he's written on the world's biggest piano," said Scardino. "Dr. T enrolls them in a huge music institute, and the boy tries to defeat his evil plan." In a subplot, "the boy's mom is single parent, and Dr. T. tries to romance his mother. But it's the friendly plumber from next door who's the hero who ends up with the mother and the boy."
Asked whether a musical involving all those children and an enormous piano might be unwieldy to produce, GM Scardino said, "The plan is to have children playing children, and there will be several children in the cast. We haven't capitalized yet, but we're expecting it to be in the usual range for a Broadway musical these days, $7-$10 million. It's not a mega- musical but not small either." The book and score are finished.
Director Callow did a solo run in London's West End in a one-man play about Charles Dickens, written by biographer Peter Ackroyd. He's also soloed in The Importance of Being Oscar, a celebration of Oscar Wilde. Other stage credits include The Chimes at Midnight at Chichester Festival Theatre. More recently, he directed a poorly-received revival of the 1950s musical, The Pajama Game, starring Leslie Ash and John Hegley in the West End. Callow's film acting credits include "Shakespeare in Love," "Four Weddings and a Funeral," "Howard's End" and "A Room with a View."
- By David Lefkowitz
Dr. Seuss Bonanza Swells Toward a Crescendo
11/23/2000 PLAY BY PLAY
WHILE Jim Carrey is cavorting in "Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas" and the endgame is finally in sight for "Seussical" (it opens at the Richard Rodgers Theaternext Thursday after much retooling), there is yet another Seussian spectacle in the works: a stage musical adaptation of "The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T," a 1953 movie that has the distinction of being the only film written by Theodor ("Dr. Seuss") Geisel. "Dr. T," an expensive flop that has become something of a cult favorite, is about a young man who hates to practice his piano and imagines his teacher as an evil genius and captor of dozens of boys. Glen Roven, a prominent Broadway musical director who is writing the songs, says that he saw the film at a revival house a couple of years ago and immediately saw its possibilities. "It spoke to me," he says of the movie, which features, among other things, a piano with a million notes. "It's so imagin- ative and sings so naturally," Roven says. Produced by Brian Brolly and Michael Jenkins, and with a book written by Anthony Horowitz, a British television writer, "The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T" will try out in September, 2001, in Dallas. The next stop could be either London, where the show is currently being developed, or New York.
PATRICK PACHECO. Patrick Pacheco is a frequent contributor to Newsday. E-mail him at pacheco@nyct.net
Latest Update: The New York opening for "The 5000 Fingers of Dr. T" is set for September 2002
Program for the new Musical
SCENES and SONG BREAKDOWN
ACT ONE
Prologue
I HATE MUSIC Bart and the Children
SCENE ONE: Mrs. Collin’s Home
HAPPY LITTLE FINGERS Bart
GOOD FOR THE BOY Mrs. Collins, BartMr. Zabladowski
SCENE TWO: The Terwilliker Institute – Grand Hall
THE 5,000 FINGERS OF DR. T Dr. T and the Royal Guard
SCENE THREE: Switchboard/Beanie Factory
NO BALLS HERE Mrs. Collins and her Telephone Assistants
SCENE FOUR: The Depths of the Institute
YOU DESERVE A PRINCE Bart
SCENE FIVE: THE BOILER ROOM
SCENE SIX: Transition Scene
TELL HER YOU’LL CLEAN YOUR ROOM Bart, Mr. Zabladowski
SCENE SEVEN: The Lock-Me-Tight
ELOISE (THE PERFECT MR. RIGHT) Bart, Mr. Zabladowski
DON’T MIND IF I DO Dr. T and Mr. Zabaladowski
PICKLE JUICE Dr. T, Mrs. Collins and Mr. Zabladowski
SCENE EIGHT: The Dungeon
CRAZY MUSIC The Musicians
SCENE NINE: Throughout the Institute
FIND NUMBER ONE Dr. T and Company
ACT TWO
SCENE ONE: Castle Corridor
AT THE TRIAL Reporters and Lawyers
SCENE TWO: Beneath the Court
SMALL Bart
SCENE THREE: The Court
GUILTY
EXQUISITE TORTURE Gloopadiser
SCENE FOUR: Gloopadising Room
THE BLIND MAN’S SONG Piano Tuner
SCENE FIVE: The Dungeon
WHAT MAKES HIM TICK The Musicians
SCENE SIX: The Lock-Me-Tight
LUCKY ME Mrs. Collins
SCENE SEVEN: Dr. T’s Bedroom
IF YOU WANT TO RULE THE WORLD Dr. T and the Valets
SCENE EIGHT: Outside the Institute
No Balls Here (reprise) Mrs. Collins and her Assistants
SCENE NINE: In Front of the Concert Hall
THE 5,000 FINGERS of DR. T (reprise) Dr. T
SCENE TEN: The Concert Hall
HAPPY LITTLE FINGERS (reprise) Bart and the Children
CRAZY MUSIC (reprise) The Children
SCENE ELEVEN: Mrs. Collins’s Home
YOU DESERVE A PRINCE (reprise) Mr. Zabladowski, Bart Mrs. Colllins.Normal
This appeared in all the LA Auditions papers
OPEN CALL IN LOS ANGELES
DR. SEUSS’ THE FIVE THOUSAND FINGERS OF DR. T
A New Musical For Broadway
Producers: Brian Brolly (ROSC Holdings, Ltd.)
Michael Jenkins (Dallas Summer Musicals)
Music & Lyrics: Glen Roven
Book: Anthony Horowitz
Director: Ian Judge
Choreographer: TBA
General Manager: Frank Scardino
Casting: Johnson-Liff Associates
1st Rehearsal: March 18, 2002 in NYC
Show Runs in Dallas: Approx. May 14, 2002 until May 26, 2002
NYC Previews (Broadway): Set To Begin Approx. July 2, 2002
SEEKING:
Young Boys To Play And/Or Be In The Ensemble And Understudy The Role Of:
BARTHOLOMEW COLLINS Principal Role. Young Boy. 8-11 years old. Must Be A Phenomenal Singer And Actor. Must have an unbroken soprano voice and be able to comfortably belt a High ‘D.’ Vocal Range Of Role Is Low ‘G’ to High ‘D.’ Should be spunky and tough, yet vulnerable.
Please prepare a ballad in the Broadway style that shows off voice and range. Some good examples are: When You Wish Upon A Star, Where Is Love, Over The Rainbow, Or Never, Never, Land, etc. You should also have other music with you in case you are asked to sing a second piece. This can be an uptempo, however, please start with a ballad. Do not sing pop or rock music. It is not appropriate for this show.
All children must sing with the piano. Please bring sheet music. Accompanist will be provided.
Please have a photo and resume listing singing/ acting experience and/ or training.
5000 FINGERS – PAGE 2
Wednesday, August 29, 2001
Debbie Reynolds Studio
6514 Lankershim Boulevard
(1 Block North Of Victory)
North Hollywood, California
Studio ‘B’- Holding Room
Studio ‘D’- Audition Room
10:00 am – 11:00 am Sign-In Period
11:00 am Auditions Begin Promptly
Please Note: A lunch break will be taken.
5000 Fingers Headed for Broadway
As Seussical goes through its out-of-town birth pangs, the process is being watched closely by another set of producers, Brits Brian Brolly and Michael Jenkins As first reported on Theatre.com in June 1999, they are developing a Dr. Seuss musical of their own, a stage adaptation of the 1953 cult fantasy film The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T., about a boy's nightmare brought on by too many piano lessons. Very different in tone from the sunny Seussical, The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T has a book by Anthony Horowitz, internationally acclaimed British author of the "Crime Traveller" series, along with children's books including "The Unholy Grail" and "The Devil and His Boy." Nevertheless, production spokesperson Peta Boreham told Theatre.com that Horowitz and composer-lyricst Glen Roven were attracted to the material because, "They think it's a wonderful show for family entertainment -- and a very American story. It's got a very good heart to it." Boreham said the producers are hoping to do the show on Broadway in the 2001-02 season, but have not decided whether to do a pre-Broadway tryout beforehand, either in Britain or the U.S. No theatre or stars have been announced. Roven co-wrote the Emmy-nominated comedy song "My Bill Gates" with Bruce Villanch. His "Keepin' the Customer Satisfied" is a Wildhorn-like favorite with skaters. The musical will be directed by Simon Callow (London's The Pajama Game), and has quietly assembled a design team, including Quinny Sacks (choreography) and David Fielding (sets and costumes).
Hans Conreid (70 Girls 70, and the voice of Captain Hook in Disney's Peter Pan) starred in the film as the evil music teacher Dr. Terwilliker who rules over a prison-like compound where 500 children are forced to practice the piano around the clock. Only young Bartholomew Collins (Tommy Rettig, of "Lassie" fame) -- not Cubbins of "500 Hats" fame -- can save them. The film had an original script by Allan Scott and Seuss himself. It also had music by Frederick Hollander and Morris Stoloff, which was nominated for an Oscar. Seuss's film script includes the famous line: "We should always believe children. We should even believe their lies."
First article I found on the new Broadway version
Dr Seuss is making it big on Broadway. While Seussical is gearing up for previews starting October 15th at the Richard Rodgers Theatre, a musical adaptation of the 1953 fantasy film, The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T is in the works, with Simon Callow directing and Quinny Sacks, a West End and international ballet veteran, choreographing. Glen Roven, an Emmy Award winner with a long career as a musical director and conductor, has penned the music and lyrics, with Anthony Horowitz writing the book, based on a screenplay by Theodore Geisel. 5,000 Fingers is the story of a young boy who grudgingly takes piano lessons from Dr Terwilliker. The youth fantasises that the evil Dr T enlists 500 children to play the concerto he's written on the world's biggest piano. Dr T enrols them in a huge music institute and the boy tries to defeat his evil plan, while Dr T tries to romance his mother. The question is, how much will it cost to produce a musical involving all those children and an enormous piano?
Glen Roven, Creator/Composer of the Broadway Version
Glen Roven’s new musical, DR. SEUSS’S THE FIVE THOUSAND FINGERS OF DOCTOR T, directed by Simon Callow and produced by Brian Brolly will opens 28 September 2001 in Dallas and on Broadway in November, 2001.
Most recently, he was nominated for the twelfth time for an Emmy Award for OUTSTANDING SONG OF THE YEAR. Last December 31st, he was asked to conduct and arrange for Quincy Jones and Steven Speilberg their Gala Millennium concert in Washington on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial for CBS. He is alsocompleting an Oboe Concerto for the St. Petersberg Symphony in Russia.
One of his proudest achievements was conducting and arranging Bill Clinton's inauguration. Also produced by Quincy Jones, it was performed for a live audience of over 850,000. Again for Mr. Jones, he conducted A CONCERT FOR THE AMERICAS the concert for all the Presidents of the Western Hemisphere in Miami and QUINCY JONES: The First 50 Years on ABC.
He recently composed the songs for the Disney feature, THE VISITORS and also wrote all the songs for the Comedy Central Series, VIVA VARIETY (Emmy Nomination Best Theme.) In addition, Steve Wynn hired him to conduct the 178 piece symphony which opened his new hotel, Bellagio in Las Vegas. He has currently just completed the American Comedy Awards (FOX) and the American Film Institute Tribute to Harrison Ford (CBS), both produced by George Schlatter.
He began his Broadway career as a rehearsal pianist for PIPPIN when he was in High School. While attending Columbia University, he worked in various capacities on the New York productions of VERY GOOD EDDIE, THE MADWOMAN OF CPW, JOSEPH AND THE..., REALLY ROSIE, A PARTY WITH COMDEN AND GREEN, SHE LOVES ME (TOWN HALL), WOMAN OF THE YEAR (NATIONAL TOUR) and, at nineteen was the musical director of SUGAR BABIES for its entire run, becoming the youngest conductor ever on Broadway. He arranged Patti LuPone’s one woman Broadway show and was the co-Musical Supervisor for Liza Minnelli's record-breaking engagement, STEPPIN' OUT, at Radio City. He was a contributing composer for the Off-Broadway hit, A...MY NAME IS ALICE, and wrote the scores for John Guare's LYDIE BREEZE, directed by Louis Malle, and GARDENIA, directed by Karel Reisz. He also composed the scores for Larry Gelbart's MASTERGATE and Christopher Isherwood's A MEETING BY THE RIVER, on Broadway, and Radio City's GOT TO GET AWAY.
A four-time Emmy winner, he won his first for the 1986 Tony Award Show. Recently, there has hardly been a Television Special that he hasn't written, arranged and conducted. He began his TV career working for Alexander H. Cohen, contributing to 4 Tony Shows, 2 Emmy's, Happy Birthday, Hollywood (co-produced with Jack Haley, Jr.), The Placido Domingo Special, NBC's 60th Anniversary Special, all three Night of 100 Stars to name a few. For George Schlatter, he won his forth Emmy for SINATRA; 80 Years, His Way; also for Schlatter, he has written and conducted The Sammy Davis 60th Anniversary Tribute, The Richard Pryor Tribute, The Muhammad Ali Tribute, Welcome Home America, The Meaning of Life, The American Television Awards, The Comedy Hall of Fame, SHE-TV (with Carsey-Werner) and the annual American Comedy Awards among others. For Don Mischer, he has conducted the Kennedy Center Honors and the Prime Time Emmys. The principle Television Composer/Conductor for Disney Televison, he wrote and conceived the musical numbers for the ANIMAL KINGDOM THEME PARK OPENING SPECIAL, MGM/DISNEY Studio Grand Opening, The Grand Opening of Euro/Disney, The Best of Disney’s Music, Disney’s Greatest Hits on Ice, The Nancy Kerrigan Special, Disney’s Champions on Ice, Melinda, The First Lady of Magic, Incredible Animal Tales, plus Michelle Kwan’s Ice Special. Other credits include: The Presidential Gala at Ford’s Theatre, Leonard Bernstein's 60th Birthday Tribute, We Interrupt This Week, The Ed Sullivan Christmas Special, Elizabeth Taylor’s 60th Birthday Celebration plus many others. He has also composed for numerous AfterSchool Specials, plus American Playhouse's A WIDE NET.
He made his European conducting debut with the Luxembourg Symphony in 1980 conducting for Sherril Milnes and Rene Kollo, and arranged, for Jerome Robbins, Big Stuff, for the NYC Ballet production of FANCY FREE. He has written, conducted and produced for Julie Andrews, Jason Alexander, Anita Baker, Kathleen Battle, Michael Bolton, Bono, Tevin Campbell, Ray Charles, Natalie Cole, Placido Domingo, Ella Fitzgerald, Renee Flemming, Aretha Franklin, Kenny G., Goldie Hawn, Scott Hamilton, Bob Hope, Hootie and the Blowfish, Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson, Kermit the Frog, Patti LaBelle, Brian McKnight, Liza Minnelli, Patti LuPone, Bernadette Peters, Diana Ross, Lily Tomlin, Shirley MacLaine, Luther Vandross, Nancy Wilson, Stevie Wonder and Trisha Yearwood. He made his acting debut in James L. Brooks's BROADCAST NEWS, playing, naturally, a composer.
For children, he wrote and produced Sharon, Lois and Bram's Holiday album, CANDLES, SNOW and MISTLETOE. It inspired a television movie and a Broadway Musical which played the Palace. He also writes the songs and score for the HBO series THE BABYSITTER'S CLUB, based on the popular Children's book.
His first musical, HEART’S DESIRE, co-written with Armistead Maupin and directed by Jack Hofsiss had its premier at the Cleveland Playhouse and was subsequently given a gala performance at the Shaftesbury Theatre in London, directed by Simon Callow.
Ian Judge, Director of the Broadway Show
Judge puts apathetic audience on trial
By BRYCE HALLETT
Tuesday 4 September 2001
Ever since Ian Judge came by an "illegal" copy of the original Broadway cast recording of My Fair Lady, he has dreamt of working in New York's music theatre community.
The formidable and outspoken British director, whose production of Faust will be revived by Opera Australia in Melbourne next year, gets to fulfil that dream when he stages the new Broadway musical, The Five Thousand Fingers of Dr T, based on a Dr Seuss wish-fulfilment tale and starring Jim Dale.
"The musical is full of crazy characters and tells the story of a kid who crawls into a piano and discovers a world run by a despotic piano teacher called Dr T," says Judge.
Judge, who came to the notice of local audiences through his productions for the Victoria State Opera several years ago, including The Tales of Hoffman and West Side Story, is in Sydney to stage Jacques Offenbach's operetta for the OA, the first time his version has been seen there. (It opens at the Sydney Opera House tonight.)
The director says he doesn't feel the same "creative rush" as when he first directed The Tales of Hoffman, a co-production with the Houston Grand Opera, while admitting that he's preoccupied with his forthcoming Manhattan adventure.
"I've been knocking on the door of Broadway and I'm ready now. If it had happened a few years ago I would have found it scary. Jerome Robbins once said that directing a new musical was a bit like being on the underground for six months, and I imagine it (The Five Thousand Fingers of Dr T) will probably go straight down the toilet and I shall write a marvellous book."
Judge, whose career is steeped in Shakespeare, laughs heartily at the thought but he's determined to give Broadway his best shot. New York will be his adopted home for the next 18 months, not just for the musical by Glen Roven, but a production of Salome for New York City Opera. After this, he vows to be back in Australia.
Judge has a soft spot for Melbourne and keeps in regular touch with producers and artists. He attended the final night of the Production Company's Mack & Mabel and was impressed by the results, despite what he insists are the inevitable compromises of treating musicals in such a time-pressured manner. The director, who cast Caroline O'Connor as Anita in West Side Story, is an admirer of her triple-treat talent and is negotiating with producer Ken Mackenzie-Forbes to direct a new production of Funny Girl, with her in the lead, in 2002 or 2003.
Apart from directing Macbeth for the Sydney Theatre Company in 1999, his local productions have all originated in Melbourne and he laments the demise of the VSO. "I was dismayed to learn what happened, it's such a loss. I was a glittering star in Melbourne and shunned in Sydney, and I wouldn't have been invited (to Sydney by the then Australian Opera) because I would have been part of local politics between the companies. It's only because of the fact that the shows were as popular as they were, that they are being done now. The company (the OA) has even said in the program that West Side Story was an Opera Australia production, which is wrong, and reflects that sense of dull competition between the two cities."
Forthright and articulate, Judge is not a radical director by any means, but his depth and range of experience means he knows how to create passionate, clear-sighted and imaginative theatre experiences that don't push for overblown interpretative effects. The performing arts world, he says, faces pressures from unenlightened governments and passive, over-polite audiences who "sit semi-isolated in dark auditoriums and have been let off the hook".
He adds: "They come prepared to let the experience wash over them and are more likely to think up a shopping list for tomorrow than engage with what is being presented on stage.
"The government has health warnings on packets of cigarettes and theatre tickets ought to say, 'if you have not done any homework and are not prepared to work this evening, then don't bother coming: this ticket is invalid'."
The director, "haunted" by the theatre since he was nine years old, argues that 90 per cent of Shakespeare performed throughout the world is inferior, that young directors are thrown in over their heads by artistic managements and that much contemporary theatre is mediocre. "The state of theatre gives me sleepless nights and it sharpens me up and makes me work very hard," he says. "I'm still waving this wildly theatrical flag with sequins all over it in a desperate attempt to say, 'there's more to it'. I find I don't go to the theatre much these days".
Judge is constantly on the move between cities and across genres. He is both the outsider and insider whose choice of work, be it Sondheim, Mozart or Shakespeare, deals with profound issues and reflects deeply on the human condition. As such, he demands dedication from actors and singers, and commitment by audiences, particularly those who display "no real reason to be there".
He describes many of today's marketing seductions as ludicrous and admonishes director's who don't trust the text and indulge their own fantasies. "It makes me mad because it's so easy".
Judge says that the theatre will matter again if, and when, "people in the street realise that life matters and are not concerned about the new Sony, or what they're wearing. Whenever you get people one-on-one, they always agree that art is important but in groups they tend not to. It's enlightened governments which can help shift that.
"It's devastating that the wrong people are going to the theatre," he adds. "I don't mean the regulars who have been hale and hearty even though it's getting worse ... but the burgeoning new class of wannabe artistic people who are going with no real understanding of what's going on. They expect it to be boring, deal with it while it's being boring, and forget they've been when they leave. I'm baffled why they are there."
The director says he'd love to flick the auditorium lights on during performances and make the theatre a public event again. "We've all been let off the hook since being plunged into the dark in the mid-19th century. We can just drift off into any kind of reverie we want, and sometimes you can't tell if an audience is bored or moved. It makes performing much more difficult."
During Hoffman rehearsals, Judge has been applying his bag of cajoling tricks. Near enough is not good enough. His "sacred site" rehearsal room can be light-hearted and liberating one moment, gloomy and tense the next. Not unexpectedly, some tears are shed.
Judge's spirited version of The Tales of Hoffman, in which the doll goddess Olympia emerges as a Marilyn Monroe-style automated robot, premiered in Melbourne almost a decade ago. As is the case with stagings originating in Melbourne's State Theatre, the scenery had to be rebuilt to fit Sydney's smaller Opera Theatre stage. Tim Goodchild's set, assures Judge, still looks a treat, a dark, dimly-lit box, framed by gold where magic is seemingly plucked out of the air and the poet E.T.A. Hoffman's fantasy springs vividly forth.
The director, whose globetrotting career has taken him to Russia, France, the US and Japan in the past couple of years, says today's opera schedules and poor management decisions are having a detrimental effect.
"The opera life for a lot of people has simply become squeezing into someone else's shoes and I do understand the singers' dilemma ... there is something going wrong in most opera houses. Those buildings created specifically for opera as an art form that is theatrical, as opposed to just musical, are now under enormous threat. The prospect for doing the work I do is getting more and more difficult. Rehearsal time is getting sliced to save money; it's happening everywhere. "More and more performers are encouraged to turn up late because they are not paid for rehearsals, which is the opera system."
5,000 Fingers of Dr. T Hoping to Play on Bway Fall 2001
17-AUG-2000
New York City theatre projects always seem to come in waves. Not long ago, a slew of Arthur Miller plays and Frank Wildhorn musicals reached Broadway stages. Currently, political satires are hitting the boards, from Capitol Steps to High Infidelity. The quirkiest mini-trend, however, would have to be two Dr. Seuss musicals bound for Broadway, albeit a season apart.
The first, Seussical, is gearing up for previews starting Oct. 15 at the Richard Rodgers Theatre. Kevin Chamberlin and David Shiner are featured in this Ahrens and Flaherty project. But that's not the only Seuss show on the go for those in the know. A musical adaptation of the 1953 fantasy film, "The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T," is in the works, with Simon Callow directing and Quinny Sacks, a West End and international ballet veteran, choreographing. David Fielding is the costume designer.
Glen Roven, an Emmy Award with a long career as a musical director and conductor as well as composer for theatre, film and television, including five major Walt Disney programs, has penned the music and lyrics, with Anthony Horowitz writing the book, based on Theodore Geisel's screenplay.
Rehearsals for Dr. T are to start in New York July 2001, with an out-of-town tryout due in September 2001. The Broadway run is targeting mid-October 2001, according to general manager Frank Scardino.
Asked about the Seuss synergy, Scardino told Playbill On-Line (Aug. 16) that Dr. T "is a different kind of show from Seussical. Seussical takes bits and pieces from the source material, whereas Dr. T is very much based on the motion picture written by Theodore Geisel, and it has more human characters than other Seuss stories."
5,000 Fingers of Dr. T tells of a young boy who grudgingly takes piano lessons from Dr. Terwilliker. The youth fantasizes that the evil Dr. T" enlists 500 children to play the concerto he's written on the world's biggest piano," said Scardino. "Dr. T enrolls them in a huge music institute, and the boy tries to defeat his evil plan." In a subplot,"the boy's mom is single parent, and Dr. T. tries to romance his mother. But it's the friendly plumber from next door who's the hero who ends up with the mother and the boy."
Asked whether a musical involving all those children and an enormous piano might be unwieldy to produce, GM Scardino said, "The plan is to have children playing children, and there will be several children in the cast. We haven't capitalized yet, but we're expecting it to be in the usual range for a Broadway musical these days, $7-$10 million. It's not a mega musical but not small either." The book and score are finished; casting is expected to begin shortly after the new year.
Director Callow is currently gearing up for a solo run in London's West End in a one-man play about Charles Dickens, written by biographer Peter Ackroyd. The Mystery of Charles Dickens, currently on a UK regional tour, opens Sept. 6 at the Comedy Theatre. Callow was last seen in the West End at the Savoy in 1997, where he recreated another famous writer in the one-man play, The Importance of Being Oscar, a celebration of Oscar Wilde. The actor's other recent stage credits include The Chimes at Midnight at Chichester Festival Theatre. More recently, he directed last year's poorly-received revival of the 1950s musical, The Pajama Game, starring Leslie Ash and John Hegley in the West End. Callow's film acting credits include "Shakespeare in Love," "Four Weddings and a Funeral," "Howard's End" and "A Room with a View."
-- By David Lefkowitz
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