Bill Condon Discusses New SIDE SHOW Differences

DREAMGIRLS big screen director and CHICAGO movie musical screenwriter Bill Condon is currently trying his hand at a large-scale stage musical with the new version of Henry Krieger and Bill Russell's SIDE SHOW, now trying out on the west coast at the La Jolla Playhouse.

Condon discusses the many changes in the new production - among them, 12 of 27 total songs in the score - as well as the reshaped new show as a whole as part of a new interview.

Is 2014 going to be the year for SIDE SHOW at long, long last? Condon declares, "Who knows if it's the right time," before adding, "I think possibly audiences have grown more open-minded and might be more open to characters who are different and extreme in some ways. I think there's something universal about the question 'Who will love me as I am?'"

As for the major re-haul of the musical from top to bottom, Condon says, "Basically the idea was to change what was a kind of backstage musical into a biographical musical."

Furthermore, he added of the show's ideas and attitudes in general, "It's a show both in music and lyrics that is not ironic. It really does wear its heart on its sleeve."

Additionally, Condon reveals of the realism of the new version of SIDE SHOW, "When you first arrive in the play, you don't have the comfort of believing that it's actors playing the part. The whole idea was to really give you a sense of what it's like to be in the sideshow in that period, something that gave you that spooky sense of being among these people."

Check out the original article on the matter here.