Wie viel Geld braucht man, um ein Musical in New York auf die Beine zu stellen? 75 Millionen Dollar könnten es sein, aber manchmal reichen auch 8000 Dollar und weniger – und selbst wenn man diese 8000 Dollar nicht haben sollte, dafür aber über eine gute Idee verfügt und ein begeistertes Team, kann man über diverse Finanzierungsportale heutzutage Geld für Produktionen lukrieren, quasi auf Pump.
Eines davon ist kickstarter.com. Über diese Site kamen Travis Ferguson (Buch und Texte) und Dave Ogrin (Musik und Texte) zu jenem Kapital, das für die Produktion des neuen Musicals “THE LEGEND OF JULIE TAYMOR or The Musical That Killed Everybody!” notwendig war.
Am 12. August 2011 war es dann im Rahmen des New Yorker Fringe Festivals soweit, die Show feierte im Bleecker Theatre (45 Bleecker St.) ihre Uraufführung.
Cast
Jennifer Barnhart (”Avenue Q”): Julie
Christopher Davis Carlisle: Lionel
Clint Carter: Bruno
Lynn Craig: Vanessa
Barry Shafrin: Billy, the Spider-Guy
Kiley L. McDonald: Star Actress
Johnnie Moore: Frank/Bobby
Shaun Rice: Bert
Michael Titone: Dick
Mit dabei: gut die Hälfte jenes “Geek Chorus”, der aus der finalen Version der Broadway-Show von “Spider Man” gestrichen wurde.
Travis Ferguson kam die Idee zu seiner Show, als er im November 2010 das Cover des New York Magazine zu Gesicht bekam. Michael Riedel, der Kritiker, Bono und Julie Taymor waren darauf als Comicfiguren abgebildet und in der Mitte, ganz groß: Spider Man, so als wollte er sie alle killen. Ferguson:
I looked at and thought to myself–oh my god, someone has to write that story. And when I read the article, it detailed this horrific history dating back years about how the musical kept changing producers. The first producer actually died from a stroke as he signed the contract. The show was cursed from Day One. And that’s when I realized I had my opening.
When the show opened for previews all these terrible things that no one had anticipated started happening. Actors fell like flies and got injured; the story was incoherent. And reporters quoted Julie saying bizarre things, like the show was never better and that she may not have even meant for it to be a traditional Broadway musical. Her name got dragged through the mud. So that’s what the story turned out to be: the rise and fall of a visionary woman who in her two show career was behind a massive success and a massive failure.
It’s an original show with an original score based on what’s now part of Broadway history. We don’t use any of their content except slightly during a preview but the focus is less on stage and more on the audience. They’re all tweeting about how bad it is. And although we tried to stay as true as we could someone times we had to compress characters. Natalie Mendoza and Evan Rachel Wood, who was briefly affiliated with the production, become one person. Oh, and the ending. It’s highly speculative. It may not be true. But no one ever said it didn’t happen, so we’re just going to assume it did.
“THE LEGEND OF JULIE TAYMOR, or The Musical That Killed Everybody!” ist noch am 16., 18. 21. und 24 August in New York zu sehen.
THE LEGEND OF JULIE TAYMOR, or The Musical That Killed Everybody!
Buch und Texte: Travis Ferguson
Musik und Texte: Dave Ogrin
Regie: Joe Barros
Musikalische Leitung: David Fletcher
Choreographie: Joe Barros
Links
- Die Website zur Show
- kickstarter.com
- New York Press: ‘The Legend of Julie Taymor’ to Premier at Fringe Festival
- blog blog blog: The legend of Julie-Taymor!
- FringeNYC
