The Story of My Life (musical)

The Story of My Life
Music Neil Bartram
Lyrics Neil Bartram
Book Brian Hill
Productions 2006 Toronto
2008 Goodspeed Musicals
2009 Broadway

The Story of My Life is a musical with music and lyrics by Neil Bartram, and a book by Brian Hill. The show follows two childhood friends from age six to 35 and has only two characters.

The musical debuted at Canadian Stage Company in Toronto in 2006 starring Brent Carver and Jeffrey Kuhn and premiered on Broadway in February 2009, closing after nineteen previews and five regular performances.

The Story

The musical follows a lifelong friendship between two men, Alvin and Thomas, whose childhood bond continues throughout their adult years. Amazon.com describes the musical as "an authentic and affecting work, told through a series of songs in turn playful, touching and dramatic, and expertly orchestrated by Jonathan Tunick. One New York critic predicted, 'When the original cast recording comes out, see if you don't find yourself moved to Google the name of some long-lost friend with whom you simply lost touch. The Story Of My Life inspires us to reconnect with those who were part of the earliest chapters of our own life stories'."[1]

Productions

Following developmental readings at Manhattan Theatre Club, The Eugene O'Neill Theater Center, and Canadian Stage Company, The Story of My Life was produced in Toronto at the Canadian Stage Company in 2006.[2] It was next produced at the National Alliance for Musical Theatre's Festival of New Musicals in the fall of 2007.[3]

The musical then ran at Goodspeed Musicals, East Haddam, Connecticut from October 10, 2008 through November 2. The production was directed by Richard Maltby, Jr., and featured Will Chase as Thomas Weaver and Malcolm Gets as Alvin Kelby.[4]

The Story of My Life premiered on Broadway at the Booth Theatre on February 3, 2009 and opened officially on February 19, 2009. Maltby directed with Chase and Gets reprising their roles.[5] The musical closed on February 22, 2009 after five performances and 18 previews.[6]

The Story of My Life received four 2009 Drama Desk Award nominations: Outstanding Music (Neil Bartram), Outstanding Lyrics (Neil Bartram), Outstanding Book (Brian Hill), and Outstanding Musical.

The Story of My Life received its first regional production in April 2010, at Act 2 Playhouse in Ambler, Pennsylvania. It was directed by Act 2's Producing Artistic Director Bud Martin (an original producer of the Broadway production) and starred Barrymore Award Winner Tony Braithwaite as Alvin Kelby and Jim Stanek as Thomas.[7]

The Story of My LIfe opened at the Dongsoong Art Center in central Seoul, Korea, on July 13, 2010, produced by the OD Musical Company.[8] That production returned on October 28, 2011.

The Northern California premiere opened at Contra Costa Civic Theatre in El Cerrito, CA on November 4, 2010. It starred William Giammona as Thomas Weaver and Paul Araquistain as Alvin Kelby. The production was directed by Dennis M. Lickteig and Music Directed and conducted by Joe Simiele.

The Story of My Life opened at Victory Gardens Theatre in Chicago, IL on November 9, 2010. The production is produced by Chicago Muse and stars Jack Noseworthy and Davis Duffield.

The Story of My Life film based on the 2010 Seoul Korea based OD Musical Company production released in 2011.[9]

The San Francisco premiere of The Story of My Life opened at the New Conservatory Theater on January 28, 2012 following six previews. It closed on February 26, 2012. The production starred Coley Grundman as Alvin Kelby and William Giammona as Thomas Weaver. The production was directed by Dennis Lickteig and music directed by Joe Simiele with Stage Management by Blake Kennedy. Kuo-Hao Ho provided set design, Christian Mejia designed lights and Jessie Amoroso created the costumes.

The Atlanta premiere opened at Centerstage North on May 11, 2012, starring Kelly David Carr as Alvin Kelby and John Stanier as Thomas Weaver. The production was directed by Julie Taliaferro with music direction by Bill Newberry, set design by Jasmine Vouge Pai, lighting design by John F. Parker Jr., and accompaniment by Barbara Capogna Macko.

"The Story of My Life" premiered in Denmark at the Fredericia Theater and ran from November 19 to December 14, 2014 and starred Søren Scheibye and Lars Molsted. The production was directed by Susan H. Schulman.

In December 2014, The Story of My Life was played in Fakkelteater in Antwerp, Belgium. The production stars David Imbrechts and Michaël Lejeune and is directed by Anneke Vercruysse.[10] This production returned in December 2015 to the same location.

Also in December 2014, The Story of My Life had its German-speaking premiere (entitled "Die Geschichte meines Lebens") in Vienna's Theater Center Forum, starring Andreas Bieber and Daniel Große Boymann who also created the German version.[11]

Song List

The original Broadway Cast Album was produced by PS Classics.

Response

Ben Brantley, in his New York Times review, wrote that "In addition to jettisoning the usual excesses of tourist-trapping extravaganzas, they have tossed away such niceties as originality, credibility, tension and excitement...Mr. Chase and Mr. Gets sing and act with winning (and, under the circumstances, merciful) restraint."[12]

Michael Kuchwara, in his Associated Press review, wrote "The Story of My Life is a heartfelt little musical that has the courage of its sweet-tempered, low-key convictions. These days, that's a novelty. In a Broadway world of big musicals determined to sell themselves, this gentle new show celebrates softly but with an emotional pull that slowly wins you over."[13]

NY1's Roma Torre said "Partners Neil Bartram, who wrote the music and lyrics, and Brian Hill, who wrote the obviously Sondheim-inspired book, fine-tuned this work with a keen insight for those seemingly inconsequential moments in relationships that turn out to be magically momentous. Bartram's lovely songs resonate on many levels, while Richard Maltby Jr. adds further dimension with his sharply-etched direction. Will Chase as Thomas and Malcolm Gets as Alvin are exceptionally talented. So perfectly matched in ways both subtle and large, they deliver splendidly calibrated performances that are simply flawless....This is an impressive collaborative effort that, despite its minimalism, has the power to pack quite an emotional punch."[14]

References

  1. ↑ "Cast Recording Released 6/2, Now Avaliable [sic] For Pre-order" broadwayworld.com, May 5, 2009
  2. ↑ Jones, Kenneth. "New Musical Story of My Life Snags Carver and Kuhn to Play Lifelong Pals" playbill.com, September 13, 2006
  3. ↑ Festival listing namt.org
  4. ↑ Lipton, Brian Scott. "Goodspeed to Present The Story of My Life and Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas" theatermania.com, July 22, 2008
  5. ↑ Gans, Andrew, and Jones, Kenneth. "Story of My Life, with Chase and Gets, to Play Broadway's Booth" playbill.com, November 23, 2008
  6. ↑ Jones, Kenneth and Gans, Andrew."Broadway's Story of My Life Is Short-Lived; Musical to Close Feb. 22" playbill.com
  7. ↑ "Act 2 Playhouse production history" act2playhouse.org, retrieved June 3, 2010
  8. ↑ koreatimes.co.kr
  9. ↑ hancinema.net
  10. ↑ " The Story of my life naar Antwerpen" musicalworld.nl
  11. ↑ " Die Geschichte meines Lebens Wien 2014" unitedmusicals.de
  12. ↑ Brantley, Ben."Male Bonding: It’s a Wonderful Friendship"The New York Times, February 20, 2009
  13. ↑ Kuchwara, Michael.Review: Friendship flowers in 'Story of My Life' foxnews.com (AP), February 19, 2009
  14. ↑ Torre, Roma."NY1 Theater Review" ny1.com

External links

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