The Broadway director and choreographer Rob Ashford (“How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying”) has been hired for a stage musical adaptation of Tim Burton’s 2010 film version of “Alice in Wonderland,” according to Variety. A spokesman for the producer, Disney Theatrical Productions, declined to comment on Friday, and Mr. Ashford did not return a phone call seeking comment.
The musical is still considered several years away from reaching the stage, and no songwriters have been hired. Mr. Burton is widely known to be involved in creating the “Alice” musical; the Variety report said that Linda Woolverton is writing the musical’s book based on her screenplay for the film, and Richard D. Zanuck, one of the film’s producers, would be an executive producer of the musical. (The Disney spokesman declined to confirm those details.) The film version of “Alice,” which starred Johnny Depp and Mia Wasikowska, brought in more than $1 billion worldwide in spite of mixed reviews and won Academy Awards for art direction and costume design; the musical will be based on the movie’s designs.
Executives at Disney Theatrical have been considering a stage version of Mr. Burton’s film – one of the highest-grossing films of all time – for many months, one of several musical projects being developed from Disney films like “The Jungle Book,” “Father of the Bride” and “Dumbo.” Disney Theatrical has two new shows opening on Broadway this spring: The musical “Newsies,” which was critically praised during a tryout production in New Jersey last fall, and the play “Peter and the Starcatcher,” which had an acclaimed Off Broadway run last year.
Mr. Ashford won a Tony Award in 2002 for best choreography for the Broadway musical “Thoroughly Modern Millie”; more recently he was nominated for Tonys for best direction and choreography in 2011 for the Broadway revival of “How to Succeed,” which is still running. He is also the choreographer for the revival of “Evita” that is now in preview performances on Broadway.
Source: The New York Times
http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/03/16/disneys-alice-musical-hires-rob-ashford/
The musical is still considered several years away from reaching the stage, and no songwriters have been hired. Mr. Burton is widely known to be involved in creating the “Alice” musical; the Variety report said that Linda Woolverton is writing the musical’s book based on her screenplay for the film, and Richard D. Zanuck, one of the film’s producers, would be an executive producer of the musical. (The Disney spokesman declined to confirm those details.) The film version of “Alice,” which starred Johnny Depp and Mia Wasikowska, brought in more than $1 billion worldwide in spite of mixed reviews and won Academy Awards for art direction and costume design; the musical will be based on the movie’s designs.
Executives at Disney Theatrical have been considering a stage version of Mr. Burton’s film – one of the highest-grossing films of all time – for many months, one of several musical projects being developed from Disney films like “The Jungle Book,” “Father of the Bride” and “Dumbo.” Disney Theatrical has two new shows opening on Broadway this spring: The musical “Newsies,” which was critically praised during a tryout production in New Jersey last fall, and the play “Peter and the Starcatcher,” which had an acclaimed Off Broadway run last year.
Mr. Ashford won a Tony Award in 2002 for best choreography for the Broadway musical “Thoroughly Modern Millie”; more recently he was nominated for Tonys for best direction and choreography in 2011 for the Broadway revival of “How to Succeed,” which is still running. He is also the choreographer for the revival of “Evita” that is now in preview performances on Broadway.
Source: The New York Times
http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/03/16/disneys-alice-musical-hires-rob-ashford/
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