Stephen Sondheim Says New Musical With David Ives To Premiere in 2017

The Washington Post reports that on Saturday, July 30th, at a Glimmerglass Festival event, "Stephen Sondheim in Conversation With Jamie Bernstein," the composer/lyricist confirm that his new musical, a collaboration with bookwriter David Ives based on two films by 1930s Spanish surrealist Luis Buñuel, will premiere Off-Broadway in 2017 at The Public Theater.

The Public Theater states, "We are happily developing the Buñuel project with Stephen Sondheim and hope to present it in the near future but no set date has been confirmed."

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The musical's two sources are "The Discreet Charm of The Bourgeoisie," about the odd events that occur when a group of upper-middle-class people are trying to find a place to have dinner, and "The Exterminating Angel," about another group of people, also upper-middle-class, who arrive at an elegant mansion for a large ­dinner they can't leave.

Sondheim's last musical, ROAD SHOW, with a book by John Weidman and direction by John Doyle, played at The Public in 2008. It was based on the true story of brothers Addison and Wilson Mizner who gained and lost fortunes during the Alaska Gold Rush and the Florida Land Boom.

A previous version of that musical, titled BOUNCE and directed by Harold Prince, played at Chicago's Goodman Theatre and Washington DC's Kennedy Center in 2003.

Photo: Walter McBride