''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
The New York Musical Festival (NYMF) was an annual three-week summer festival that operated from 2004 to 2019. It presented more than 30 new musicals a year in New York City's midtown theater district. More than half were chosen by leading theate ...
in 2006, debuted at the
La Jolla Playhouse
La Jolla Playhouse is a not-for-profit, professional theatre on the campus of the University of California, San Diego.
History
La Jolla Playhouse was founded in 1947 by Gregory Peck, Dorothy McGuire, and Mel Ferrer. In 1983, it was revived under ...
in 2010, and then premiered on
Broadway
Broadway may refer to:
Theatre
* Broadway Theatre (disambiguation)
* Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
** Broadway (Manhattan), the street
**Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...
in 2012.
Productions
English Language Productions
The musical originally ran at the
New York Musical Theatre Festival
The New York Musical Festival (NYMF) was an annual three-week summer festival that operated from 2004 to 2019. It presented more than 30 new musicals a year in New York City's midtown theater district. More than half were chosen by leading theate ...
in 2006.
The musical was next produced at the
La Jolla Playhouse
La Jolla Playhouse is a not-for-profit, professional theatre on the campus of the University of California, San Diego.
History
La Jolla Playhouse was founded in 1947 by Gregory Peck, Dorothy McGuire, and Mel Ferrer. In 1983, it was revived under ...
,
San Diego, California
San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United Stat ...
, 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
Paul Gallo (born February 24, 1953) is an American theatrical lighting designer.
In a career that spans over 4 decades, Gallo has designed over 52 Broadway productions, an achievement matched by only 8 other lighting designers. He made his Br ...
, 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
Rob McClure (born June 15, 1982) is an American actor and singer, best known for his work on the Broadway stage.
McClure made his Broadway debut in 2002 as an understudy in '' I'm Not Rappaport''. From 2006 to 2009, he went on to play several ...
(Charlie Chaplin),
Ashley Brown
Ashley Brown (born February 3, 1982) is an American singer and actress who is best known for playing the titular character in the United States national tour and Broadway productions of '' Mary Poppins''.
Early life
Brown was born February 3, 19 ...
(
Oona
Oona is a feminine given name. It is an Anglicisation of the Irish-language name ''Úna''. Apart from in Ireland, it is also a popular name in Finland.
People with the name Oona
* Oona Brown (born 2004), American ice dancer
*Oona Chaplin (born 1 ...
), LJ Benet (Young Sydney),
Jenn Colella
Jenn Colella (born Jennifer Lin Colella) is an American actress and singer. She began her career as a comedian and then branched out into musical theater. In her New York debut in ''Urban Cowboy'', she earned a 2003 Outer Critics Circle Award no ...
(
Hedda Hopper
Hedda Hopper (born Elda Furry; May 2, 1885February 1, 1966) was an American gossip columnist and actress. At the height of her influence in the 1940s, her readership was 35 million. A strong supporter of the House Un-American Activities Committ ...
),
Eddie Korbich
Eddie Korbich (born November 6, 1960) is an American actor, singer and dancer. He was born in Washington, D.C. but grew up in Shamokin, Pennsylvania.
Career 1980s
He graduated from the Boston Conservatory with a B.F.A. in acting in 1983. In 198 ...
(
Karno), Brooke Sunny Moriber (
Mildred), Ron Orbach (Mr. Chaplin), Roland Rusinek (Alf), Jake Evan Schwencke (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.
The musical premiered on
Broadway
Broadway may refer to:
Theatre
* Broadway Theatre (disambiguation)
* Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
** Broadway (Manhattan), the street
**Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...
at the
Ethel Barrymore Theatre
The Ethel Barrymore Theatre is a Broadway theater at 241 West 47th Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1928, it was designed by Herbert J. Krapp in the Elizabethan, Mediterranean, and Adam styles ...
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
Martin Pakledinaz (September 1, 1953 – July 8, 2012) was an American costume designer for stage and film.
He won his Tony Awards for designing the costumes for '' Thoroughly Modern Millie'' and the 2000 revival of ''Kiss Me, Kate'', which ...
, lighting design by
Ken Billington
Ken Billington (born October 29, 1946) is an American lighting designer. He began his career in New York City working as an assistant to Tharon Musser.
He was born in White Plains, New York, the son of Kenneth Arthur (an automobile dealer) and ...
, and projection design by
Jon Driscoll. The cast features Rob McClure as Chaplin, Jim Borstelmann as Alf Reeves, Jenn Colella as Hedda Hopper,
Erin Mackey
Erin Ashley Mackey (born June 19, 1986) is an American stage actress and singer, known for playing the role of Glinda in the Chicago, Los Angeles, Broadway, and Second National Tour productions of the musical '' Wicked''. She was also a double i ...
as Oona O'Neill, Michael McCormick as Sennett/ McGranery/Emcee,
Christiane Noll
Christiane Noll (born October 5, 1968) is an American actress and singer known for her work in musicals and on the concert stage. She originated the role of Emma Carew in Frank Wildhorn's '' Jekyll & Hyde'', and had roles in '' Urinetown'', ''Rag ...
as Hannah Chaplin, Zachary Unger as Young Charlie/Jackie and Wayne Alan Wilcox as Sydney Chaplin. The musical closed on January 6, 2013, after 24 previews and 136 performances.
''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, music direction, technical direction, and 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.
''Chaplin'' received its first High School production in the United States in
Albuquerque, New Mexico. It was produced by The Albuquerque Academy, and performed at the Simms Center for the Performing Arts.
Other Languages
A Russian production of ''Chaplin'' premiered on September 13, 2013, and closed on December 30, 2015, at the Musical Comedy Theatre in St. Petersburg. Starring Yevgeniy Zaitsev as Chaplin, this Russian-language replica production featured lyrics translated by Constantine Rubinsky. The show won three awards out of the four nominations it received at the 2015
Golden Mask: Yevgeniy Zaitsev for best actor in a musical/operetta, Maria Lagatskaya for best actress in a musical/operetta, and the musical itself for best musical/operetta.
A non-replica Brazilian production made major changes to the set and costume designs of the original Broadway production. It featured a new script and 7 new songs. The show premiered in Brazil in 2015 and the run was extended 5 times.
A Dutch Production played in Belgium and in the Netherlands with Nordin de Moor as Charlie Chaplin.
Directed by Stanislav Moša, a non-replica version premiered in the Czech Republic at the City Theatre Brno in January 2017.
The Israel production of Chaplin is a collaboration of Haifa Theater and Tel Aviv Theater and premiered in July 2019.
Cast
Musical numbers
The musical numbers from the 2016/2018 new version are as follows:
;Act 1
*"Look At All the People" – Hannah Chaplin
*"What'cha Gonna Do?" – Hannah Chaplin, Young Charlie Chaplin and Ensemble
*"Far From London" – Charlie Chaplin
*"Vaudeville-Dream" - Fred Karno, Charlie Chaplin, Sydney Chaplin and Ensemble
*"Sennett Song" - Mack Sennett
*"Something Funny" - Charlie Chaplin
*"Tramp Shuffle Part 1" – Charlie Chaplin, Mack Sennett and Usher
*"Tramp Shuffle Part 2" – Reporters, Charlie Chaplin, Usher and Ensemble
*"The Look-a-Like Contest" – Charlie Chaplin and Ensemble
*"Life Can Be Like the Movies" – Charlie Chaplin, Sydney Chaplin, Mildred Harris and Ensemble
*"Life Can Be Like the Movies (Reprise)" - Charlie Chaplin
;Act 2
*"Just Another Day in Hollywood" – Charlie Chaplin, Hedda Hopper and Ensemble
*"The Life That You Wished For" – Charlie Chaplin
*"(When It) All Falls Down" – Hedda Hopper
*"Man of All Countries" – Hedda Hopper and McGranery
*"What Only Love Can See" – Oona O'Neill
*"My Brother's Keeper" - Sydney Chaplin
*"The Exile" – Hedda Hopper, McGranery and Ensemble
*"Where Are All the People?" – Charlie Chaplin
*"What Only Love Can See (Reprise)" – Charlie Chaplin
*"This Man" – Full Company
*"Tramp Discovery (Reprise)" – Full Company
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." The ''
Variety
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'' 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."
[Verini, Bob]
"Regional. 'Limelight: The Story of Charlie Chaplin'
variety.com, September 20, 2010
Awards and nominations
References
External links
InternetBroadwayDatabase Listing''Limelight'' at LaJolla PlayhousePlaybill Vault Listing
{{Charlie Chaplin
2006 musicals
Cultural depictions of Charlie Chaplin
Broadway musicals
Biographical musicals
Musicals by Thomas Meehan (writer)