Monday, March 18, 2013

GUEST POST - RUBY PRESTON (STAGED)

Everything's Coming Up Roses:
A Preview of Broadway's Bookish Shows This Spring
Guest Post by Ruby Preston


Each year as the weather starts to gets nicer and New York City begins to wake from its winter hibernation, it can only mean one thing – the Spring Broadway season is here! Ok, maybe the change in seasons doesn’t mean this for everyone, but at least for me, as both a theater lover and Broadway producer, I cannot wait for the spring to bring a flood of new musicals and plays to Broadway.

This Spring’s show line up has just as much promise as the flowers popping up amongst the New York City concrete, and good news for readers -- many of the shows coming to Broadway are based on famous novels. Here are just a few upcoming shows that might capture the imagination of readers by bringing the story from the page to the stage:



Matilda (opening April 11th at the Shubert Theatre)

I cannot wait for this musical to open up on Broadway! Transferring to New York from London’s West End (where I was lucky enough to see it!) Matilda is a musical adaptation of Roald Dahl’s classic children’s book. About a magical girl whose love for books is a refuge from her unhappy family life, Matilda is guaranteed to enchant both the young and the young at heart!


Breakfast at Tiffany’s (opening March 20th at the Cort Theatre)

Audrey Hepburn made the movie an unforgettable classic, but people often forget that Breakfast at Tiffany’s was first a novella by Truman Capote. Isn’t it funny that a man who became famous for his true crime novels penned one of the most enduring romances of our time? I can’t wait to be swept up in Holly Golightly’s quirky New York romance!




The Testament of Mary (opening April 27th at the Walter Kerr Theatre)
 

Yes the play is the story of Mary during the crucifixion of Christ, but religion aside- this play promises to be an otherworldly delight for two reasons: first, it marks the Broadway world premiere of amazing Irish writer, Colm Tóibín's recent novella for the stage and second, it stars the brilliant Fiona Shaw, a four-time Olivier Award-winning actress who might be most famous for playing Harry Potter’s less than loving aunt Petunia Dursley in the Harry Potter films.


Big Fish (opening October 6th at the Neil Simon Theatre)
 

A musical all about story telling? Yes please! A new musical from composer Andrew Lippa based on the book by Daniel Wallace, I can’t wait to see the tall tales woven in the novel brought to life on the stage.




Ever After (opening date & theatre TBA)
 

Based on the 1998 Drew Barrymore film based on the Cinderella fairy tale, this new musical will be the second Broadway show about the maiden who lost her glass slipper to open on The Great White Way this season. Normally I like as much variety on Broadway as possible since there are so many different playwright’s voices out there waiting to be heard, but in this case, when it comes to one of my favorite fairy tales, if the slipper fits … then on with the show!


Author Bio: 

Author Ruby Preston is an award-winning Broadway producer who has helped to bring many musicals to the stage. Her first novel “SHOWBIZ,” described as “The Devil Wears Prada” meets NBC’s Smash, received widespread praise and was featured in various theater publications. Now a promising talent in the literary as well as the theater world, Preston’s newest release is the second book in her Broadway Trilogy.



Book Blurb:

Aspiring Broadway producer Scarlett Savoy has almost everything she needs to make her first musical a huge success- millions in financial backing, a talented (not to mention handsome) young director, and a big-name Hollywood starlet as her female lead. But with none of the theater owners in town willing to back a novice, she’s missing one final piece of the puzzle: a Broadway theater. Just when Scarlett thinks her show might never see the footlights of day, an unexpected meeting with the young, eligible son in the Stewart theatrical empire changes Scarlett’s Broadway prospects forever.

STAGED, the second novel by Broadway producer Ruby Preston, continues the saga of Scarlett Savoy and the colorful cast of theater characters introduced in SHOWBIZ.



Buy Staged:

Amazon


Connect with Ruby Preston:

Website

Twitter

13 comments:

  1. GREAT POST! Breakfast at Tiffanys and Big Fish are at the top of my list. I'm so intrigued by books becoming Broadway shows, I think because many people who read Rita Hayworth's Shoes say it should be a musical. :-) Thanks so much for sharing, Ruby, and hosting, Tracie!

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  2. Fabulous post, Ruby, how I wish I could come on over (just like that...) and take in some of these productions! (NB I live in the UK!) You've certainly piqued my interest ~ come back later and give us the lowdown on some of these shows...Rock on!

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    1. Hey Nicky- thanks for the compliment! Just so you know, you are definitely never lacking for AMAZING theater over the in the UK! I try to get there at least once a year to see as many shows as I can!
      Matilda started on the West End and is still there, not to mention the other great shows based on books like War Horse, The 39 Steps, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory coming in May! I wish I could come on over there!
      xo, Ruby

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  3. This looks like a great line-up of shows. I can't decide which one I'd want to see more. Part of me says "Ever After" and the other says "Matilda." Love the post.

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  4. I had no idea that all of these shows were coming to Broadway. Very good to know since I am a New Yorker and I take my mother to shows pretty often. Great post. I've heard so much about your novels and look forward to reading them at some point soon - first one is already on my Kindle!

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  5. OH MY GOD!!!! They are making a Broadway show from the novel, BIG FISH? Well, I haven't read the novel YET, but I can say the film by Tim Burton is one of my favorite movies of all time, and I believe Cari Kamm loves it too! It's the definitive story of reconciliation.

    "Has it ever occurred to you that maybe you're not too big? That maybe this place is just too small?"

    BIG FISH is a fairytale and has just the right amount of magical realism Broadway fans will respond to.

    Thanks for this post.

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  6. Great post! :) I've been to NYC a few times but I've never seen a show. I really hope to fix that in the near future. I'm a fan of Tim Minchin and he wrote the music and lyrics for Matilda... so I'd love to see that show. It looks brilliant!

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  7. Breakfast at Tiffany's is one of my must sees, as is Ever After! Now to just go to NYC.

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  8. Hey everyone! Thanks so much for the feedback on the post! I hope that if you're able to make it to NYC you get to see all of the great book-to-Bway shows!
    Also FYI- a great resource for this kinda stuff is one of my favorite Twitter feeds @BroadwayReads. The guys over there are always keeping tabs on the latest books to become musicals/plays, which keeps my list of shows to see constantly growing! :)
    Thanks again for the great comments and enjoy reading!
    xo, Ruby

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  9. Wow! What a fantastic post. Ruby, your books look amazing! I want to pack and bag and jet on over to NYC now. Until I can, I'll have to read some Ruby Preston. :)

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  10. Fun post! I love seeing shows on Broadway. So long since I've been there though. Big Fish sounds very cool and would be my first pick.

    Your books sound like fun. More for the To Read pile!

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  11. unusual concept for a book and an intriguing one. Tracie, once again you've given me food for thought with your interview. I haven't seen any of those musicals and would love to! I have, however, been to Broadway twice and loved it! Sooz

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