Thursday, February 25, 1999
'Thunder' to hit Broadway
BY JACKIE DEMALINE
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Playhouse in the Park's production of Keith Glover's “bluesical” mega-hit Thunder Knocking on the Door will be knocking on Broadway's door in November.
An as-yet unnamed New York producer will re-mount the production, with cast and design team expected to remain intact. Plans call for late summer pre-Broadway runs in Cleveland and Philadelphia, then a move to a Shubert theater in New York.
Thunder, which blends blues by Grammy winner Keb' Mo' and Anderson Edwards with a contemporary take on folk myth of the Deep South,has spent more than two years in development at regional theaters.
“Thunder comes out of what's really right about regional theater,” Mr. Glover says. Mr. Glover, who directed the Playhouse co-production with Washington, D.C.'s, Arena Stage, will direct for Broadway.
Thunder had been a success in prior productions “but it wasn't a Broadway show. One thing about Cincinnati, (the Playhouse) goes in trying to give Broadway-quality, and it hits more than it misses.”
The Playhouse has no financial investment in the show, and it will not receive royalties on the script, which was developed elsewhere. The main benefit for Cincinnati's resident professional theater will be the prestige of having a title page credit on Broadway. .
Mr. Glover first became known to Cincinnati audiences with the premiere of his 1997 Rosenthal New Play Prize-winning In Walks Ed.
“I lay all the credit at the feet of (Playhouse producing artistic director) Ed Stern,” Mr. Glover says. “He's the only one who backed me on this.”
“For me what's great is Keith being recognized for his singular talent,” Mr. Stern says. “And it's great for the Playhouse to be recognized for doing the level of work that we're doing.”
Work on an original cast album will start “in a couple of weeks.”
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