Lincoln Center Theater has announced that a reading of the musical adaptation of Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, with workshops toward that end starting on 4 March.
According to Variety, Patti LuPone, Tom Hewitt, Sherie Rene Scott, Jessica Biel and Oscar Isaac have been contracted for the reading. Previous participants in readings of the show have included Paulo Szot, Joanna Gleason, Salma Hayek, Mia Maestro and Matthew Morrison.
None of the actors mentioned above has been officially cast in the forthcoming Broadway production; indeed no names have been announced to that end as of yet. It’s anyone’s guess who’ll end up playing Pepa and the range of colourful characters that inhabit the world of un ataque de nervios.
The show, which is based on Pedro Almodóvar’s 1988 film, has book and lyrics by Jeffrey Lane and music by David Yazbek and will be directed by Bartlett Sher. Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown is aiming towards a November opening with previews starting on 2 October this year.
Purchases from Amazon.com
FROM LEFT TO RIGHT:
1. Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown DVD.
NIGHTMARE ALLEY…
Nightmare Alley, based on a 1946 novel by William Lindsay Gresham, tells the story of Stan, a con turned carnie, who falls in love with Molly, the dark darling of the traveling carnival. Filled with freaks, geeks, lovers and fools, the show considers fate, free-will and the consequences that await when you make the wrong choice.
Set in the dark, shadowy world of a second rate carnival, the novel was the inspiration for a 1947 film featuring Tyrone Power and Joan Blondell.
Now, Jonathan Brielle has adapted it for the musical theatre stage and the new musical will receive its world premiere at the Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles in April this year. Of his creation, Brielle says:
Directed by Gilbert Cates, the cast features James Barbour, Mary Gordon Murray, Larry Cedar, Michael McCarty, Melody Butiu, Leslie Stevens, Anise E. Ritchiem and Alet Taylor. It sounds like one to watch….