TONY AWARD NOMINEE
PHILLIPA SOO
RETURNS TO BROADWAY IN TITLE ROLE OF
AMÉLIE, A NEW MUSICAL
PREMIERING IN 2017
AT A CONFIRMED BROADWAY THEATER TO BE ANNOUNCED
FOLLOWING CENTER THEATRE GROUP’S PRODUCTION
AT THE AHMANSON THEATRE IN LOS ANGELES
DECEMBER 4, 2016 THROUGH JANUARY 15, 2017
BOOK BY CRAIG LUCAS
MUSIC BY DANIEL MESSÉ
LYRICS BY NATHAN TYSEN AND DANIEL MESSÉ
MUSICAL STAGING AND CHOREOGRAPHY BY SAM PINKLETON
DIRECTED BY PAM MACKINNON
(New York, NY) Tony Award nominee Phillipa Soo (Hamilton) will play the title role in the 2017 Broadway premiere of AMÉLIE, A NEW MUSICAL at a confirmed Broadway theater to be announced, following Center Theatre Group’s production at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles from December 4, 2016, through January 15, 2017. Full casting, Broadway theater and dates to be announced soon.
Amélie captured our hearts in the five-time Academy Award-nominated 2001 French film. Now she comes to the stage in an inventive and captivating new musical directed by Tony Award winner Pam MacKinnon (Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Clybourne Park), with a book by three-time Tony Award nominee Craig Lucas (An American in Paris), music by Daniel Messé (Hem), lyrics by Nathan Tysen (Tuck Everlasting) and Daniel Messé, and musical staging and choreography by Sam Pinkleton.
Aaron Harnick said: “Phillipa Soo began the developmental process with us and she is a perfect match for this strong, intelligent protagonist who lives in the magical world Craig Lucas has written and Pam MacKinnon has envisioned. Daniel Messé and Nathan Tysen have written clever, heartfelt lyrics and a rich, romantic score that is beautifully sung by Phillipa. We are thrilled she is our Amelie.”
“I am excited to step back into the shoes of this character. She is joyous, complex, and determined, in her own small way, to change the world for the better,” said Phillipa Soo. “I’m so thrilled to have the opportunity to be in the room with this amazing group of artists and collaborators.”
Center Theatre Group Producing Director Douglas C. Baker said: “We are thrilled to be producing AMÉLIE, A NEW MUSICAL in Los Angeles before it heads off to Broadway, and excited that our Ahmanson Theatre audience will be the first to see Phillipa Soo in the lead of this mesmerizing show.”
Phillipa Soo originated the role Amélie in the workshop productions of AMÉLIE, A NEW MUSICAL, and is best known for her lead role ‘Eliza Schuyler Hamilton’ in Broadway’s critically acclaimed Hamilton, which she joined shortly after its inception. The role garnered her the Lucille Lortel Award in 2015 for Lead Actress in a Musical during the shows sold-out run at The Public Theater before heading to Broadway. The role has also earned her a 2016 Tony Award nomination in the category of “Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical.” After graduating from Juilliard in 2012, Soo was cast as ‘Natasha Rostova’ in the Ars Nova production of Dave Malloy’s Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812, based on Leo Tolstoy’s War & Peace; the show went on to transfer Off-Broadway to Kazino. Previously on the small screen, Soo appeared on the NBC television series “Smash” in the role of Lexi.
AMÉLIE, A NEW MUSICAL has scenic and costume design by Tony Award winner David Zinn, co-lighting design by Tony Award nominee Jane Cox and Mark Barton, sound design by Tony Award nominee Kai Harada, projection design by Drama Desk Award winner Peter Nigrini, musical direction by Kimberly Grigsby, vocal arrangements by Kimberly Grigsby and Daniel Messé, and orchestrations by Tony Award winner Bruce Coughlin.
The musical follows the mesmerizing journey of the inquisitive and charmingly shy Amélie who turns the streets of Montmartre into a world of her own imagining, while secretly orchestrating moments of joy for those around her. After discovering a mysterious photo album and meeting a handsome stranger, Amélie realizes that helping others is easier than participating in a romantic story of her own.
In 2015, AMÉLIE, A NEW MUSICAL had its critically acclaimed world premiere at Berkeley Repertory Theatre and topped “Best Theater of 2015” lists in the Los Angeles Times and the San Francisco Chronicle.
AMÉLIE, A NEW MUSICAL is produced for Broadway by Aaron Harnick, Harbor Entertainment, Triptyk Studios and SBR Productions.
The official Broadway website is AmelieBroadway.com
Twitter: @AmelieBroadway
Instagram: @AmelieBroadway
Facebook: Amelie on Broadway
Center Theatre Group’s Website is CenterTheatreGroup.org
Phillipa Soo is represented by Don Buchwald & Associates, Inc. and Authentic Talent and Literary Management.
WHAT THE CRITICS ARE SAYING ABOUT AMÉLIE, A NEW MUSICAL
“A sparkling musical comedy that slyly revels in the infinite possibilities of theatrical merrymaking. The score flowers with originality. The impressive lyric writing of Tysen and Messé made me want to listen harder. The best songs mix outlandish wit with genuine feeling. It’s a credit to the enchantment of the authors and MacKinnon’s production that the storybook ending feels both earned and true.” – Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times
“A dreamy movie becomes a dream of a stage musical. Wit crackles and charms fill the house, emanating from the book, lyrics and melodies. The coming-of-age-through-love tale of a radiant, smart but — emotionally — almost cripplingly shy young woman. Messé and Tysen’s captivating, eclectic and humor-tinged songs keep the show moving at a swift clip. Director Pam MacKinnon creates a seamless blend of visual, narrative and performance delights.” – Robert Hurwitt, San Francisco Chronicle
“Sheer delight! A magical, timeless plunge into love, art, goldfish puppetry, snake-eyed marbles, coin-operated photo booths, Parisian bedrooms, sex shops, cafés, and all manner of desirable targets. Amélie is deft social commentary, too. Craig Lucas’ book bursts with joy, delight, imagination, talent, and tenderness. Skillfully directed by Pam MacKinnon, the production capitalizes on David Zinn’s brilliant, skewed set. Music Director Kimberly Grigsby’s robust delivery of Daniel Messé’s richly harmonic score and slyly clever lyrics by Messé and co-lyricist Nathan Tysen, invigorate the visuals. A charming coming-of-age story about a young woman whose life on the streets of Montmartre is a constant search for connection. Vivacious charm falls into lockstep with nostalgia and poignancy, it’s exactly this dance between absurd escapism, true and false memories and relatable heartache that elevates Amélie.”
– Lou Fancher, San Francisco Weekly
CREATIVE TEAM BIOGRAPHIES
CRAIG LUCAS (Book). Craig’s plays include Missing Persons, Reckless, Blue Window, Prelude to a Kiss (Tony nomination), God’s Heart, The Dying Gaul, Small Tragedy (Obie Award), Stranger, Prayer for My Enemy, The Singing Forest, The Lying Lesson, and Ode To Joy. His movies include Longtime Companion, The Secret Lives of Dentists, and The Dying Gaul, which he also directed. He wrote the libretti for The Light in the Piazza (Tony nomination), An American in Paris (Tony nomination), Three Postcards, and the opera Two Boys (Metropolitan Opera). He directed the world premiere of The Light in the Piazza, Harry Kondoleon’s Saved or Destroyed and Play Yourself, and the film Birds of America. Craig has received three Tony nominations, the New York Film Critics Best Screenplay Award, the Sundance Audience Award, the Excellence in Literature Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the Steinberg Award, three Obies (one for direction), and the Laura Pels Mid-career Achievement Award from PEN; he has been a Pulitzer finalist.
DANIEL MESSÉ (Music and co-lyricist) is the founder and principal songwriter of the band Hem, which has garnered worldwide acclaim over the course of six studio albums. Starting as a DIY project out of Dan’s bedroom, Hem was signed to DreamWorks Records by legendary music producer Lenny Waronker and has been featured in every major media outlet including the New York Times, the New Yorker, NPR’s All Things Considered, Fresh Air with Terry Gross, and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. In 2009 the Public Theater tapped Hem to score Twelfth Night for Shakespeare in the Park (starring Anne Hathaway and Audra McDonald, directed by Daniel Sullivan) for which they earned a Drama Desk Award nomination. Daniel has written four shows for Theatreworks USA (including Black Beauty and Nate the Great) with collaborator Mindi Dickstein. They were the recipients of a Jonathan Larson Grant from the American Theatre Wing and were commissioned by Playwrights Horizons to write the full-length musical Trip through the Harold and Mimi Steinberg Commissioning Program.
NATHAN TYSEN (Co-lyricist) was represented on Broadway last season with the new musical Tuck Everlasting. Recent projects include Stillwater with band Joe’s Pet Project at Kansas City Rep. In 2014, Nathan was awarded both the Edward Kleban Prize for most promising lyricist and the Fred Ebb Award for excellence in musical theatre songwriting (co-won with Chris Miller). Work with Miller includes lyrics for The Burnt Part Boys (2009 Lucille Lortel Nomination for Best New Musical), and Fugitive Songs (2008 Drama Desk Nomination for Outstanding Revue), both of which have cast albums available at iTunes and Amazon. Additional work with Miller includes songs for “Sesame Street” and “The Electric Company,” as well as two circuses for Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey. Nathan was a contributing lyricist to the musical revue Stars of David, and has written material for the Broadway Inspirational Voices and BCEA’s Gypsy of the Year. He has worked for over a decade writing and directing for the Lovewell Institute for the Creative Arts, helping to create over a dozen new musicals with young adults. MFA: NYU Tisch, BFA: Missouri State Univ.
PAM MACKINNON (Direction) won Tony and Drama Desk Awards and received an Outer Critics Circle nomination for her direction of Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Other Broadway credits include Bruce Norris’ Clybourne Park for which she won an Obie Award and garnered Tony and Lucille Lortel Award nominations, David Mamet’s China Doll, Edward Albee’s A Delicate Balance and Wendy Wasserstein’s The Heidi Chronicles. Her many off-Broadway and regional credits include Bruce Norris’ The Qualms (Steppenwolf Theatre Company and Playwrights Horizons), Sarah Treem’s When We Were Young and Unafraid (Manhattan Theatre Club), Craig Lucas’ The Lying Lesson (Atlantic Theater Company), Horton Foote’s Harrison, TX (Primary Stages), and Itamar Moses’ Completeness (South Coast Repertory and Playwrights Horizons). Pam is an alumna of the Drama League, and the Women’s Project and Lincoln Center Theater Directors Labs, and is an associate artist at the Roundabout Theatre, as well as an executive board member of Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, and board chair of the NYC downtown company Clubbed Thumb.
SAM PINKLETON (Musical staging and choreography) is a New York City-based director and choreographer. As a choreographer his recent work includes The Heidi Chronicles (Broadway), Machinal (Broadway); Pretty Filthy (The Civilians); Kansas City Choir Boy (Prototype Festival, with Courtney Love); Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812 (Kazino); Heisenberg (Manhattan Theatre Club); Significant Other (Roundabout Theatre Company); Mr. Burns, A Post-Electric Play; Fly By Night; andStage Kiss (Playwrights Horizons); Marie Antoinette (Soho Rep); I Promised Myself to Live Faster (Pig Iron/Humana Festival); HAIR: Retrospection (Kansas City Repertory Theatre); The Understudy (McCarter Theatre Center); The Lightning Thief (Theatreworks USA); Spring Awakening (Olney Theater Center); andBuyer and Cellar (Barrow Street Theatre/tour). He is an associate artist with The Civilians and Wit-Cartel’s ONTHEFLOOR. Sam teaches Bustin’ Moves at NYU.
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