Tesori Set for 'FUN HOME' Musical Adaptation, Mantello to Direct
By: Eddie Varley Oct. 25, 2009
"Behind The Curtain" on Courant.com reports that SHREK composer Jeanine Tesori is partnering with with writer Lisa Kron ("Well," "2.5 Minute Ride") on a musical adaptation of the graphic novel, "Fun Home," by Alison Bechnell. Joe Mantello, reveals "Behind The Curtain," will direct.
Besides "Fun Home," Tesori is shaping a program in which her music will be featured March 5th as part of "The American Songbook" series at New York's Lincoln Center.
Tesori also remarked that there will be a recording of the music from the recent benefit production of "Mother Courage" which starred Meryl Streep and Kevin Kline.
Jeanine Tesori has written three Tony-nominated scores for Broadway: Twelfth Night (Lincoln Center); Thoroughly Modern Millie (lyrics, Dick Scanlan); and Caroline, or Change (lyrics, Tony Kushner; director, George C. Wolfe). The National Theatre production of Caroline, or Change in London received the Olivier Award for Best New Musical. Her first musical, Violet, written with Brian Crawley, received the NY Drama Critics Circle Award. She has received Drama Desk and Obie Awards, and was cited by ASCAP as the first woman composer to have "two new musicals running concurrently on Broadway." She composed the music for the New York Shakespeare Festival's Mother Courage, directed by George C. Wolfe and translated by Tony Kushner. Film scores include Nights in Rodanthe, Winds of Change, Show Business and Wrestling With Angels. She composed songs for the movie Shrek the Third and for the Disney DVD releases Mulan II, Lilo and Stitch II and The Little Mermaid III. Ms. Tesori is a member of the Dramatists Guild.
SHREK THE MUSICAL®, the Tony Award®-winning production, will play its final performance on Broadway at the Broadway Theatre (1681 Broadway) on Sunday, January 3rd, 2010 at 3:00 p.m. following 441 performances and 37 previews. SHREK THE MUSICAL® will launch a national tour at Chicago's Cadillac Palace Theatre for a limited engagement, July 13 - September 5, 2010.
Photo Credit: Walter McBride/Retna Ltd.
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