Donna Murphy Musical: Details
Last month, I broke the news that Donna Murphy (pictured) was returning to Broadway in a musical comedy dealing with survivors and victims of the Holocaust, told through the prism of three generations of Jewish mothers and daughters. Today, I can tell you that I have confirmed Murphy’s participation, though it hasn’t been announced officially. (The casting notice for the show, to be done by the Roundabout, is public.) More info: the show is called “The People in the Picture.” It will open in the spring. The show had been announced for last year at the Pasadena Playhouse; it was then called “Laughing Matters.” It wasn’t produced in Pasadena, some say because of the Playhouse’s financial difficulties, others because at least one of the producers wanted to enlist Murphy for a New York production first. The musical features a book and lyrics by Iris Rainer Dart (author of the international best-selling novel “Beaches”), music by Mike Stoller (“Smokey Joe’s Café”) and Artie Butler (“Feelin’ Alright” by Joe Cocker), and directed by Leonard Foglia (Broadway’s “Thurgood”).
I am thrilled to know that this show is being done in NY but let me tell you this straight out. The reason this production was not done at Pasadena Playhouse had NOTHING to do with the theatre’s financial problems – one of the producers made the decision to go after Donna in NY and so it was decided to wait to do the show at the Playhouse.
Place the blame on the right party.
Anonymous