Michael Edwards to Direct Bway-Bound A Tale of Two Cities

By: BWW News Desk Nov. 11, 2005

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The Broadway-bound musical version of A Tale of Two Cities, which had languished director-less after the departure of David H. Bell, will now be helmed by Michael Edwards, whose work has straddled the worlds of theatre and opera.

During workshops of A Tale of Two Cities in July, Bell left the show due to "immediate personal problems." Composer/lyricist/bookwriter Jill Santoriello continued work on the show, while producers Ron Sharpe, Barbra Russell, Sharon Fordham, Donald Warner, William Broderick, Ron Phelps and Mary Laminack searched for a replacement director.

The Australian-born Edwards, who is the producing artistic director of the Asolo Theatre Festival and associate artistic director of Syracuse Stage, is an accomplished director at regional theatres across the country. His many credits include Inherit the Wind for Indiana Repertory Theatre (IRT), Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? for Syracuse Stage and Shakespeare Santa Cruz, The Winter's Tale and The Merchant of Venice for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, the world premiere of Lynn Nottage's Las Meninas (The Ladies in Waiting) for San Jose Rep, and The White Devil at the Shakespeare Theatre in Washington, D.C. As a director of opera, he has staged productions of Pagliacci, Aida and others in Australia, The Barber of Seville and Aida for the Metropolitan Opera in New York, and Un Ballo in Maschera and Carmen for Opera San Jose. He will begin work as the producing artistic director of Asolo Theatre Festival in Sarasota, Florida in fall 2006, after staging the Dickens-based pop opera.

Due to its search for a new director, A Tale of Two Cities' original Broadway opening date of April 27th, 2006 has been pushed back to fall of 2006. A Chicago tryout was to have preceded the Broadway opening, but plans for an engagment in the Windy City have now been scrapped (although it is still possible that the musical might bow at another city before it hits New York).

"Set against the epic backdrop of the French Revolution and based on the classic Charles Dickens novel, A Tale of Two Cities is a sweeping musical about injustice, vengeance and the redemptive power of love. When Dr. Manette is released from the French Bastille after 17 years, he must be resurrected from the brink of madness by his daughter, Lucie. In England they meet two very different men: the exiled French aristocrat, Charles Darnay, whom Lucie marries, and the drunken cynic, Sydney Carton. Soon family secrets and political intrigue combine to draw Lucie and her family back to Paris. At the height of the Reign of Terror, the musical finds an unlikely hero in Carton, inspired by love to make an extraordinary sacrifice," as the show is described in concert notes from last year.

After a summer 2004 concert (and a previous concert and star-studded recording), the show, which has had a long development period, received a workshop in July of this year; it starred Cheyenne Jackson, James Barbour and others. A private performance (consisting of three performances over two days) was also held for investors this September, despite the lack of a director. Plans are also in place for a new workshop, helmed by Edwards, that will ready the show for its Broadway berth. A Tale of Two Cities' budget, as suits an epic musical about the French Revolution, is currently set at $14 million; the lavish show will also feature a cast of 30. Casting, a design team, a choreographer and a Broadway theatre (as well as specific dates) have not yet been announced.

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Michael Edwards to Direct Bway-Bound A Tale of Two Cities

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