J2 Spotlight Musical Theater Company on Manhattan’s Theater Row presents the first revival in nearly 30 years of the musical based on Neil Simon’s comedy, Goodbye girlstarring multi-award winning actors Sierra Boggess and Santino Fontana.
Patricia Heaton, Neil Simon and Jeff Daniels on the set of the remake of “The Goodbye Girl” … [+]
Production—about a New York City single mother (Boggess) who is frequently kicked out but falls in love with an actor (Fontana), described as “an opinionated actor who unexpectedly shows up on her doorstep with a lease to rent her apartment”—is directed by the songwriter the musical, by David Zippel. Adapted from the 1997 film starring Marsha Mason and Richard Dreyfuss, the musical debuted on Broadway in 1993 starring Bernadette Peters and Martin Short. The 1997 film was remade in 2004, starring Patricia Heaton and Jeff Daniels as Mason and Dreyfus.
In an interview this week, Zippel said the new production of the musical—which has a book by Neil Simon and music by Marvin Hamlisch—is the first since 1994, when it was presented by the Marriott Theater in Lincolnshire, Ill., outside of Chicago.
He said some of the musical’s lyrics have been “changed a bit”, as has some of the dialogue.
He suggested that “there’s always an audience for a romantic comedy musical, even more so these days”, when “romance, humor and emotion” provide a “great escape”.
Zippel said he was approached by J2 Spotlight — which says it “presents professional revivals of treasured Broadway musicals (providing) an opportunity for patrons to revisit these shows and, in some cases, experience them for the first time” — to direct the revival. He immediately contacted Boggess and Fontana to appear and both quickly agreed.
He called them both “perfectly cast, funny, smart, great singers. There’s nothing they can’t do.”
He also called the production in the J2 Spotlight theater “incredibly intimate”, because the actors play without microphones. “It’s nice to hear great singers without a microphone,” he explained.
Fontana has won multiple Drama Desk Awards and Tony Awards, the first for Outstanding Actor in a Play Simon’s Brighton Beach Memoirs2010, the latter for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical, Tootsiein 2019
Boggess appeared on both Broadway and the West End, playing Christine Daae in Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Phantom of the Opera in both places and in the television musical 25th jubilee concert. Webber called her “certainly the best Christine”.
Forbes – Lifestyle