The show will feature music and lyrics by singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright, apart from book and direction by Ivo Van Hove. Based on the emblematic 1970s film classic, the piece revolves around the creation of a Broadway play and the drama taking place behind the scenes.
I devoted my life to you. To movies. To music. To theater... An icon is to meet another icon by March 2024, as John Cassavetes’ legendary film, Opening Night, is set to hit the London stage in the form of a new musical. Starring critically acclaimed actress Sheridan Smith, the show deals with the arrangements of a new Broadway play, as drama unravels when their leading lady is hit by her own personal tragedy. Scheduled to run for a strictly limited 5-month period, the piece will include book by Ivo van Hove, as well as music and lyrics by internationally revered singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright.
“Deep in the early lockdowns of 2020, just after forming our company, we zoomed with Ivo and Rufus about turning Opening Night into a musical”, say producers Benjamin Lowy and Emily Vaughan-Barratt. “It was a thrilling idea they had, and that conversation turned into the first commission Wessex Grove made. Rufus has written the most extraordinary original music and it is a joy for us to be reuniting with Ivo after the success of A Little Life earlier this year. Opening Night is a show about making theatre in all its forms; the heartbreaks, the turmoil, and the pure joy of it. We couldn’t be luckier to have one of our great theatrical stars, Sheridan Smith, leading the cast of this new musical”.
“For me John Cassavetes’s movie Opening Night has long been a shining beacon representing both excellence in cinema and the might of live theatre”, adds Wainwright. “An intense marriage of film and stage it is about a very personal mental and creative survival that I think we can all relate to on a very deep human level. I’ve been waiting for ages to write my first musical and with this fantastic story plus the incomparable Sheridan Smith, not to mention the incredible Ivo van Hove, I don’t think I could have aimed any higher”.
Also directed and conceived by Van Hove, the production will feature Set, Lighting and Video Design by Jan Versweyveld, Costume Design by An D’Huys and Sound Design by Tom Gibbons and Alex Twiselton. Orchestrations, on the other hand, are by Rufus Wainwright, with Musical Supervision and Musical Direction by Nigel Lilley and movement and Choreography is by Polly Bennett.
Opening Night will play at London’s Gielgud Theatre from 6 March to 27 July 2024. Tickets are available on the following link.