The American Theatre Wing staged a nice tribute to Hal Prince at the Plaza Hotel on Monday night. And Wing chairman William Ivey Long let slip some news about “The Prince of Broadway,” Prince’s autobiographical show that’s had trouble getting financed.
“I have been working on ‘The Prince of Broadway’ for 27 years,” Long joked. “And I hear it is finally going to be done by people who know how to put on a show in a land across the ocean.”
Everybody waited for him to say, “England.”
But no. “Japan!” he said.
Now that’s some out-of-town tryout — about 7,000 miles out of town.
Talk about “Pacific Overtures”!
“The Prince of Broadway” will be produced in 2015 at the Umeda Arts Theater in Osaka. The original creative team, including Long and director Susan Stroman, are sticking with it, as are cast members Sierra Boggess, Emily Skinner and Richard Kind, all of whom performed songs from Prince shows at the tribute.
(Linda Lavin’s out; she’s got a TV gig.)
“The Prince of Broadway” has been in the works for, if not quite 27 years, then quite a few. The original producer was Aubrey Dan, a dilettante with a billionaire daddy. But Daddy apparently pulled the plug on little Aubrey’s theatrical spending spree, and the show was cut loose.
It was then picked up by Tom Viertel and Richard Frankel, whose shows include “The Producers” and “Hairspray.” But they took a bath on “Leap of Faith” last season and have their hands full running the cabaret space 54 Below, which, despite its popularity — I’m a fan — isn’t an easy business.
One problem in producing the show was its cost — nearly $10 million, which, for a revue, seemed excessive to some investors.
But Prince’s new backers from Japan have plenty of yen. They own the Japanese railway system. They’ve produced Prince’s shows in the past, including “The Phantom of the Opera,” which probably paid for a few club cars.
“The budget will not be a problem!” says a source.
Rehearsals will be here in New York, and then everybody will decamp to Osaka, where, I’m told, they’ll be put up in a luxurious hotel owned by the Umeda people.
(Hello, Umeda Arts Theater — I’m available for speaking engagements!)
After a limited engagement in Japan, the Umeda people plan to open the show on Broadway in the spring of 2016.
Prince narrates the show — as a talking Al Hirschfeld hologram.
Hologram Hal, his new nickname, even sings a song in the show — “Are You Havin’ Any Fun?” from “George White’s Scandals of 1939,” which Prince saw as a kid. The theme of the show is luck, and how good (or bad) fortune can send your life spinning in a new direction.
On the whole, as Prince said at the Wing gala, he’s had a pretty decent run, as the producer or director of some of Broadway’s most beloved shows — “West Side Story,” “A Little Night Music,” “Follies,” “Fiddler on the Roof” and, of course, “The Phantom,” which, I’m told, has made him the richest director in Broadway history.
He’s 85, but he seemed his sprightly old self at the gala.
Is he still havin’ any fun?
You betcha!
‘Here Lies Love,” the club show about Imelda Marcos that had a sold-out run this summer at the Public, has found a new home.
It will transfer to the basement of the Hotel Pennsylvania near Penn Station later this year for an open-ended engagement.
The basement is being turned into a nightclub to house the show. There are no seats — patrons stand up and dance to the music of David Byrne and Fatboy Slim.
I missed it at the Public, but I’m certainly going to check out this “Evita”-inspired musical in its new digs.