Sondheim & Weidman's ROAD SHOW To Play Menier Chocolate Factory

Menier Chocolate Factory Theatre's David Babani told the U.K. Daily Mail's Baz Bamigboye that plans are in progress to produce Stephen Sondheim & John Weidman's ROADSHOW at the venue.

The production would likely feature direction by John Doyle.

Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman's Road Show played The Public Theater in 2008. New York Magazine described the musical as "a boisterous picaresque about two brothers flimflamming their way from the Yukon to Boca Raton at the turn of the 20th century."

Road Show was directed at The Public Theater by John Doyle, the score conducted by Mary-Mitchell Campbell and orchestrated by Jonathan Tunick. Recorded in New York City earlier this year, Road Show features Alexander Gemignani (Addison Mizner), Michael Cerveris (Wilson Mizner), Claybourne Elder (Hollis Bessemer), Alma Cuervo (Mama Mizner), and William Parry (Papa Mizner) and was produced by Tommy Krasker.

Spanning 40 years, from the Alaskan Gold Rush to the Florida real estate boom in the 1930s, Road Show is the story of two brothers whose quest for the American dream turns into a test of morality and judgment that changes their lives in unexpected ways. Director John Doyle (Sweeney Todd and Company on Broadway), acclaimed for re-imagining Sondheim's works, joins Weidman and Sondheim in exploring two of America's great issues: capitalism and crooks.

Stephen Sondheim wrote the music and lyrics for Road Show (2008), Passion (1994), Assassins  (1991), Into the Woods (1987), Sunday in the Park with George  (1984), Merrily We Roll Along (1981), Sweeney Todd (1979), Pacific Overtures (1976), The Frogs (1974), A Little Night Music (1973), Follies (1971; revised in London, 1987), Company (1970), Anyone Can Whistle (1964) and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1962), as well as the lyrics for West Side Story (1957), Gypsy (1959), Do I Hear a Waltz? (1965) and additional lyrics for Candide (1973). Side by Side by Sondheim (1976), Marry Me a Little  (1981), You're Gonna Love Tomorrow (1983) and Putting It Together (1993/99) are anthologies of his work, as is the forthcoming Sondheim on Sondheim. He composed the film scores of Stavisky  (1974) and Reds (1981) and songs for Dick Tracy (Academy Award, 1990). He also wrote songs for the television production "Evening Primrose" (1966), co-authored, with Anthony Perkins, the film The Last of Sheila (1973) and, with George Furth, the play Getting Away with Murder (1996), and provided incidental music for the plays The Girls of Summer (1956), Invitation to a March (1961) and Twigs (1971). He won Tony Awards for Best Score for a Musical for Passion, Into the Woods, Sweeney Todd, A Little Night Music, Follies and Company. All of these shows won the New York Drama Critics Circle Award, as did Pacific Overtures and Sunday in the Park with George, the latter also receiving the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Saturday Night (1954), his first professional musical, finally had its New York premiere in 1999 at Second Stage Theatre.

John Weidman (book) also wrote the book for Sondheim's Pacific Overtures and Assassins. He co-authored, with Timothy Crouse, the new book for Lincoln Center Theater's revival of Cole Porter's Anything Goes. Additionally, he wrote the book for Big and co-created Contact with Susan Stroman. His new musical, Happiness, written with Michael Korie and Scott Frankel and directed by Susan Stroman, opened at Lincoln Center Theater in 2009.