Gone With the Wind? Northwest Arkansas News isn’t thrilled! March 27, 2008
Posted by Linda in : Gone With the Wind, news , 2comments
Just found this gem of a reaction to the new production of Gone with the Wind that’s hitting the boards next month:
NWAnews.com :: Northwest Arkansas’ News Source
ATLANTA — Talk about holding a grudge.One day you toss the tyrannical mother country’s load of tea into Boston Harbor. The next — give or take some 235 years — she retaliates by turning your beloved Gone With the Wind into a musical.
A musical where Melanie sings a ditty called “Desperate Times” after Scarlett kills that nasty Yankee soldier who tried to get into her pantaloons. Fingers crossed there’ll also be tap-dancing !
Gone With the Wind: The Musical, is the brainchild of a novice playwright from Southern California who spent two years creating songs before she even approached author Margaret Mitchell’s estate for rights to the book. It stars American actress Jill Paice (Broadway’s Curtains ) as Scarlett O’Hara and Scotsman Darius Danesh as South Carolina Lowcountry native Rhett Butler.
Mostly though the NWAnews is not thrilled that they won’t get to see the behind the scenes documentary that’s being made of the rehearsals. It will screen here on April 20th on the satellite television channel Turner Classic Movies (Yeah, I never heard of them either…….) and again later in the year with added footage from the opening night.
Hmm, last musical that struck a deal like that was Lord of the Rings with National Geographic last year. I’m only saying 
GWTW opens on April 22 at the New London Theatre. We wait with baited breath. Personally I’m not holding out much hope for them recreating the burning of Atlanta. Can’t help being a little concerned about how they’ll handle the total lack of political correctness of the original. Could be fun
Gone With the Wind January 18, 2008
Posted by admin in : Gone With the Wind, Musicals, New London Theatre, news, theatre break , add a commentFor a damn fine theatre break this Spring you could do no better than join Miss Scarlett and Rhett Butler on their tempestuous journey in Gone With the Wind!
“Gone With the Wind will open in at the New London Theatre, Drury Lane on April the 22nd (pre-views from April 5th). Music and lyrics are by Margaret Martin. The show will be directed by the legendary Trevor Nunn. Nun will be working again with John Napier (of Cats and Les Miserables fame).
** Book Gone with the Wind theatre break tickets **
The Cast
US star Jill Paice will be playing Scarlett. It’s her first chance to play a full on leading lady, as until now, she’s always undertaken ingenue roles. Best known here for the role of Laura in the Woman in White in 2006 .She played the adult Cosette in the US national tour of “Les Miserables” and the role of Sophie in the Las Vegas production of “Mamma Mia!” There is some irony for fans of the film, in the fact that her most recent role has been in, Curtains…
Edward Baker-Duly will play the dull but good Ashley Wilkes and Madeleine Worrall will be Melanie Wilkes, Scarlett’s rival for Ashley’s affections in Gone with the Wind
But never mind that, who will play Rhett?
That devilish cad who frankly didn’t give a damn, but who we all knew secretly truly loved Scarlett and was a far greater hero than the ‘milksop’ Ashley. Hugh Jackman’s name has been mentioned but no official announcement has been made yet despite rehearsals starting in mid February. Jackman played Curly in the Royal National Theatre’s production of Nunn’s Oklahoma! in 1998 . However he’s about to play the title role in the new Wolverine film which is supposed to be filming from early 2008 and following that playing Billy in a re-make of Carousel, so it seems rather unlikely he’ll be able to fit it in. I’ll update this post as soon as I can find out. You can be sure it will have to be someone really dashing as he’ll be competing with Clarke Gable at his caddish best.
Gone With the Wind - The Plot
“Gone With the Wind” is based on Margaret Mitchell’s 1936 novel and the later film of the same name. Let’s hope this one is more successful than “Scarlett,” which was made in 1970 and sank without trace. The story is set in Atlanta in the 1860s. This is the Deep South and soon the Civil War is raging. It will be interesting to see how they handle some of the more unacceptable aspects of the plot. The story starts with the seventeen-year-old Scarlett O’Hara, and here three sisters living a life of luxury on their father’s plantation until the death of their father and the onset of the Civil War turn their world upside down. Scarlett’s journey through the war and the humiliations of poverty lead her to become involved with the exciting but unpredictable Rhett Butler. The book tells their story over ten years as the life they all once believed so solid crumbles in front of their eyes.
The part of Scarlett will be incredibly demanding as she will be centre stage (both literally and metaphorically) for much of the time. The audience must take her to their hearts, as they see her transform on her journey from being a spoilt, demanding princess to finally being left with almost nothing.
There have already been some workshop productions of the new musical. Paice has been involved from the start and has had a chance to make her mark on the role of Scarlett. The production may be more like Nun’s triumphant hit ‘Nicholas Nickleby’ than a recreation of the film. Characters are likely to narrate much of the story as they did in Nickleby.
I can’t wait to see Atlanta burn! I do hope we don’t just get told it happened 
Producer Scrofani says:
“Our task in presenting the musical stage version of this epic combines our obligation to remain true to Margaret Mitchell’s original story and characters while also revealing its relevance to our lives today. Our hope is that this theatrical adaptation will cause our audiences to rediscover this timeless and rich story, while also providing each of them a meaningful and memorable experience.”
(source)
Yes, but will Atlanta burn???
Gone with the Wind opens on April 22nd
