A female pope, Einstein, & immersive crime
Global theatre really can do it all
Good morning (or afternoon) world!
Welcome to the latest edition of the Broadway DNA newsletter! In pulling the latest international musical theatre IP headlines, I focus on illuminating post-premiere lifecycles for what commercial theatre creators value: what titles are successful, where, by who, and why? Some of the how, the nuts and bolts of licensing and producing, I dip into in asides mixed in with the news. Natalie-isms, if you will. Whether you're a producer, artist, or simply a musical theatre enthusiast interested in how IP grows global, this bulletin is your ticket to staying informed and getting globally inspired!
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Say goodbye to out-of-town tryouts and say hello to town-by-town producing. BDNA’s innovative new play production pipeline begins with “Home’s Kitchen,” a new play being developed intentionally toward global licensing via two different productions in two different cities. Testing the work’s community and spacial adaptation in new markets and communities is key to identify the play’s potentially universal DNA.
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Shiki Theater Company to open “Back to the Future” in Japan 2025
The Tokyo run marks the first translated replica production of the show, currently playing on Broadway, the West End, and a soon-to-be North American tour.
TREND
What’s with all the “Peter Pan” showing up on my feeds this week? Make a Once Upon a Time musical instead, cowards.
Japan is celebrating its 44th anniversary this year since Ikue Sakakibara's first production of the Broadway musical descended in 1981, with Horipro’s own latest remount featured above.
Antwerp’s Broadway-focused Deep Bridge is also casting for a local production if you know any kids in Belgium interested.
Not to be confused of course with the current (gender and appropriation “reimagined”) North American national tour, or the entirely different international licensing of Mischief Theatre Company’s “Peter Pan Goes Wrong,” currently enjoying success in Mexico and a recently closed Swedish tour.
AWARDS SEASON
The 8th Annual Korea Musical Awards took place January 15, with locally licensed productions of (wait for it) “Memphis,” “The Phantom of the Opera,” and “If/Then” taking home major awards. FYI Seventy-one shows were submitted for consideration this season (calendar year 2023).
Seensee’s original K-musical “She Stars!” won the Grand Prize despite being a commercial flop. Co-written by Kolleen Park and Jeon Su-yang and directed by Park, “SheStars!” traces back through various girl K-pop groups from the 1930s to 1970s. A critical darling that struggled to find an audience, it’s curious that the code to making a successful KPOP show still has yet to be found.
The best big production award, for productions with 400 seats and more, was given to “Memphis,” while original K-musical “L'art Reste” took best musical for under 400 seats.
A total of 21 awards are given via professional and audience vote (it’s giving Eurovision), including categories like Best Ensemble, Best Rookie, and Best Producer (that went to Shownote, see below). Full English nominee list here.
After winning 7 Metropolitanos de Teatro awards (better known as “Los Metro”), Vatru Entertainment and Ícaro Compañía Teatral‘s “Sweeney Todd” extends until March 3.
Other best musical nominees included the (all licensed) “Everybody's Talking About Jamie,” “The Last Five Years,” “Rocky Horror,” and “Mamma Mia!”
EUROPE
New revival of Spotlight Musicals’ “The Popess” to premiere in Germany this year — Based on the 1996 American novel by Donna Woolfolk Cross, the show has had many productions since premiering in 2011 (but unlike Asian trends in remounting the same production, the direction changes for each revival). This new production by Gil Mehmert (director of many European and German premieres, as well as the 2023 world premiere of Kunze’s “Beethoven” in Korea) will premiere at the Schlosstheater Fulda before heading to Theater Hameln in December. Jam out to “Das bin ich” here or on Spotify.
Know what else that director’s working on? Frank Wildhorn’s 2025 premiere of new rock musical “Einstein” at Switzerland’s Theater Sankt Gallen — Mehmert will write the book and direct, Frank Ramond will be responsible for the lyrics, with longtime Wildhorn supporter Walter Feucht producing.
Huge shoutout to Thalia Muziektheater in The Netherlands for an upcoming production of one of my favorite underrated Broadway musicals, “Jane Eyre.”
Really digging this insanely cool “Rent” poster for Theatergroep SPOT in the Hague, Netherlands.
As an aside, I had no idea until this week that Anthony Rapp brought his autobiographical “Without You” to London, Canada, and Korea in 2012, and after a brief 2023 Off-Broadway run, is now headed to Japan.
ASIA-PACIFIC
For those who may be discovering producer Chunsoo Shin’s work after the announcement of “The Great Gatsby” coming to Broadway this spring, a new trailer dropped for the world premiere musical “IL TENORE” currently running through February in Seoul, written by Will Aronson and lyricist Hue Park (“Maybe Happy Ending,” which won six Korean musical awards and the Richard Rodgers Award, English debut at Georgia’s Alliance Theatre 2020). Shin aims for the work to “resonate not just in Korea but globally, serving as a stepping stone for the company to go international.”
New teaser trailer for Shownote’s “Great Comet” remount in Seoul this March-June; the production played to great success in 2021 after a COVID-delay (from the contract I worked on back in 2018…tbt amiright).
Cast announced for latest (14th season) “Hedwig” remount in Seoul — First premiering in Korea in 2005, Shownote’s latest production seeks to innovate through stage setup, video, and real-time broadcasting during the performance. Actor Jo Jung-seok will participate for the fifth time, first playing the titular role in 2006.
New trailer released for Toho’s “The King & I” opening in Japan in April for the first time in 24 years; they first produced the Japanese premiere in 1965.
“MAMMA MIA! THE MUSICAL” Will Open in Fiji in February— Led by Australian-born director Michael Payer and Fijian music star Laisa Vulakoro, the show (just 4 hours away from Australia’s East coast!) is also partnering with the Fiji Association of the Deaf and United Blind Persons Fiji to provide live Sign Language interpretation and audio description for an Accessible Performance.
“Inside No. 9”
Among the most anticipated shows in Shanghai at the moment is “Inside No. 9,” an immersive theater show adapted from the crime drama BBC series of the same title.
"A masterpiece of black humor", the 8-season 2014 series has a score of 9/10 on Douban, the Chinese movie and music sharing site. On Chinese streaming platform Bilibili, the 8th season of the show alone has had more than 20 million views.
Produced by leading live entertainment company Damai, the first theater adaptation of the British dark comedy kicked off in December as a year-resident of the Shanghai Grand Theatre.
Following the anthology DNA of the TV series, the 1,000-square-meter studio theater at SGT has been separated into three sections for three separate stories. Audiences will walk along a corridor before stepping into each story at a time.
Since the introduction of Shanghai production “Sleep No More” in 2016 (my review here), the concept of immersive theater has been widely adopted in China, with a large number of innovative performance spaces emerging as a result. This is one of the first bids from an existing theater venue to renovate/adapt a space for an immersive work, in the hopes of attracting a new audience to their venue.
Have a show or idea you want to expand abroad? Consider working with Natalie at Broadway DNA, just reply to this email and let’s chat!