Sondheim’s New Musical Gains Director, Workshop

Image by Thos Robinson/Getty Images

By Talya Zax November 17, 2016

Earlier this month, the New York Post reported that Tony Award-winning director Joe Mantello will direct Stephen Sondheim’s new musical at the Public Theater.

Don’t hold your breath — the musical is reportedly only half done — but with Mantello on board, and a miniature workshop reportedly occurring at the Public this week, the show, which has been in development since at least 2014, is shaping up. Working with playwright David Ives, Sondheim is basing the musical, tentatively titled “Buñuel,” on two films by the Spanish director of the same name: “The Exterminating Angel” and “The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoise.”

This summer Sondheim suggested he, Ives, producer Scott Rudin and the Public were aiming for the musical to premiere off-Broadway in 2017. The Post reported they currently aim to have a full-scale workshop of the piece this coming spring. This week’s workshop was closed to the press, but reports from the musical’s first workshop, this past summer, glowed.

“‘The music was gorgeous,’” an unnamed source told the Post’s Michael Riedel. “‘It’s not an old-fashioned Sondheim show — you know, song, dialogue, then a song. It’s much more seamless.’”

Talya Zax is the Forward’s culture fellow. Contact her at [email protected] or on Twitter, @TalyaZax

Talya Zax is the Forward’s opinion editor. Contact her at [email protected] or on Twitter, @TalyaZax.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO