All sorts of people who have seen Finding Neverland have then said to themselves, “Oh my goodness — what am I doing with my life? I’ve got to wake up, do what I love and take a risk. That’s where the riches of life will lie.” — DIANE PAULUS, DIRECTOR
And that’s exactly why they all worked so well together, Michaels added. “Diane is not afraid of anything,” she said. “She likes to surround herself with really creative people and then this very powerful life force happens between them.” Kennedy and Barlow couldn’t quite believe it when they were approached by Paulus and big-shot producer Harvey Weinstein about scoring Finding Neverland. “We said to Diane, ‘Look, we’re not musical theatre writers — we’re pop-tarts,” Kennedy said with a laugh. But Paulus has worked with unconventional artists since she began writing her own theatrical story in the New York fringe scene two decades ago — and she had a gut instinct about the music she wanted for Finding Neverland. “I knew we had to explode the imagination of J.M. Barrie on that stage,” Paulus said. “And that really led me to understand how a pop score by Gary and Eliot could function in that story.” Still, when the “pop-tarts” brought their initial song ideas to Paulus, “there was only one song we thought she’d really love, because it really sounded like a musical theatre song,” Kennedy said. “But she hated it. She told us, ‘Guys, don’t think about this too much. Just do what you do.’ And so that’s what we did.” And that is why, Kennedy added, Paulus is a genius. “I think that’s probably an overused word,” he said. “But she is. She is a genius, and not in the way that those dudes in an Apple shop are geniuses. She is a visionary.” For expanded interviews with Diane Paulus and other members of the Finding Neverland creative team, go to the DCPA NewsCenter at www.denvercenter.org/news-center.
FINDING NEVERLAND
DEC 20 – JAN 1 • BUELL THEATRE ASL, Audio-Described & Open Captioned performance: Dec 30, 2pm
Robert Petkoff as 'Bruce' and Kate Shindle as Alison' in Fun Home. Photo by Joan Marcus.
Laura Michelle Kelly (center). Finding Neverland original Broadway cast. Photo © Carol Rosegg.
To tell Barrie’s unconventional story on Broadway, Paulus gathered a decidedly unconventional (and trans-Atlantic) creative team. American Choreographer Mia Michaels is a three-time Emmy winner for her work on TV’s “So You Think You Can Dance.” Barlow is the architect of the enduring British pop band Take That, which has produced 28 top-40 singles since 1989. He recently was voted the greatest British songwriter of all time — a field that includes the likes of Paul McCartney, Elton John and Andrew Lloyd Webber. “Gary is furiously well-known and well-liked here in England,” said co-composer Eliot Kennedy, who has had No. 1 hits with the Spice Girls, Celine Dion, Bryan Adams, Aretha Franklin and more. Graham (Privacy) is known in Britain not for writing fanciful musicals but rather plays about urgent social and political issues such as how technology is eroding our privacy and sense of self. Putting them all together, Graham said, shows how Paulus has a “forensic knowledge for how to build a musical.”
COMING UP FROM BROADWAY:
FUN HOME
Robert Petkoff, who recently headlined the DCPA Theatre Company’s DeVotchKa-infused Sweeney Todd, will return to Denver in the national tour of Fun Home (Jan 10-22). Petkoff, also celebrated for his performances in Broadway’s Ragtime, All The Way and Anything Goes, will play the troubled patriarch, Bruce. “I was aware of the possibility of doing Fun Home when I was finishing the run of Sweeney Todd at the Denver Center and was quite pleased with the prospect of returning to Denver,” Petkoff said. “I really love the city and have had such great theatrical experiences there at the DCPA.” Robert will be joined by Susan Moniz (Broadway’s Grease) as Helen and Kate Shindle (Broadway’s Legally Blonde, Cabaret and Miss America 1998) as Alison. Based on Alison Bechdel’s best-selling graphic memoir, Fun Home introduces audiences to Alison at three different ages as she explores and unravels the many mysteries of her childhood that connect with her in surprising new ways. The show won raves from critics and audiences alike, winning five 2015 Tony Awards including Best Musical, and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize.