Some theatre news that made me go “huh?” [yes, this is all real news. I haven’t followed the non-news links, so they may be NSFW]:
- Playbill is reporting that “the plan to stage ‘The Deep Throat Sex Scandal’, a new play by David Bertolino, turns out to be anticlimactic — at least for now.” Yup, that’s how they said it. The announcement was made by “When Harry Met Linda, LLC”, the producers of the new play about the famed porn film, “Deep Throat.” As for what the play is about, the producers describe it thusly: “It all started as a little movie that nobody expected to do much at the box office, certainly not gross over $600 million. Or spark the sexual revolution. But that’s exactly what ‘Deep Throat’ accomplished. The Deep Throat Sex Scandal, a new play, takes you through the historic, chaotic and controversial episodes that would determine what Americans consider obscene. From the film’s creation to the players that would become legends, including Linda Lovelace, Harry Reems and trial attorney Allen Dershowitz, to the arrests, bans, courtroom drama and political fallout, this bizarre journey gives you an unprecedented look behind the scenes of the adult film industry. And it will inevitably ignite conversation and debate about freedom of speech, expression, and of course, sex.”
- The Los Angeles Times is reporting that a stage musical on the LA Porn Industry is in the works. The production is a partnership between New York’s experimental group the Civilians and L.A.’s Center Theatre Group (i.e., the folks behind the Ahmanson, Mark Taper Forum, and Kirk Douglas theatres). The still-untitled show “will explore the real-life stories of the people who work in California’s pornography industry,” according to CTG. There is no opening date yet for the musical, which is being developed under CTG’s New Play Production Program. You can learn more about it by following @pornmusical on Twitter.
- Playbill is also reporting that a rock musical is in the works about Lizzie Borden. With music by Steven Cheslik-DeMeyer and Alan Stevens Hewitt, additional music by Tim Maner, and lyrics by Cheslik-DeMeyer and Maner, the musical tells the story of the brutal 1892 murder of Andrew and Abby Borden, father and stepmother to 32-year-old Lizzie Borden, who was acquitted of murdering the two with a hatchet in their home. As the producers describe it, “This dark, hard, campy, bloody, sexy, loud show offers a glimpse of these infamous events through the eyes of Lizzie, her older sister Emma, Lizzie’s close friend Alice, and the housemaid Bridget. Packed with kick-ass original songs, four fierce rocker divas, and two very bloody murders, our tale of repression and patricide sheds some light on why Lizzie Borden took that axe, and why we see her as a heroine for doing it.”
It sorta makes one long for simpler plays, like “Puppetry of the Penis”.
