High Fidelity (musical)
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 Pre-opening advertising |
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| Music | Tom Kitt |
| Lyrics | Amanda Green |
| Book | David Lindsay-Abaire |
| Basis | Novel by Nick Hornby High Fidelity |
| Productions | 2006 Broadway 2008 St. Louis 2009 Chicago 2010 Washington DC 2011 Fullerton, CA 2011 Clinton, IA 2012 St. Louis, Kansas City |
High Fidelity is a musical with a book by David Lindsay-Abaire, lyrics by Amanda Green, and music by Tom Kitt. Based primarily on the Nick Hornby novel rather than the subsequent film version it inspired, the plot focuses on Rob Gordon, a Brooklyn record shop owner in his thirties obsessed with making top five lists for everything, always observing rather than participating in life. When his girlfriend Laura leaves him, he goes through a painful re-evaluation of his life and lost loves (with a little help from his music) and he slowly learns that he has to grow up and let go of his self-centered view of the world before he can find real happiness.
Kitt, a graduate of Columbia University, recognized the material's potential for musical adaptation when he first read the book, long before the film was released and became a cult hit. He approached Green (daughter of famed lyricist Adolph), with whom he had attended the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theater Workshop, with the idea, and she too saw the possibilities. Their score runs the gamut from pop music to rhythm and blues to romantic ballads, with each song in the style and musical vocabulary of a different pop or rock artist, including Bruce Springsteen, Beastie Boys, Indigo Girls, Talking Heads, Aretha Franklin, The Who, Guns N' Roses, Billy Joel, George Harrison, Percy Sledge, and others.[1]
The show had a month long out-of-town tryout at Boston's Colonial Theatre before heading to Broadway in New York City. After eighteen previews, the Walter Bobbie-directed production opened on December 7, 2006 at the Imperial Theatre, where it closed after fourteen performances. The opening night cast included Will Chase, Jenn Colella, Christian Anderson, Kirsten Wyatt, Rachel Stern, J.B. Wing and Jay Klaitz. The show was first produced regionally in 2008 by New Line Theatre in St. Louis, followed by productions in Chicago, Washington DC, and other US cities..[2] The Canadian premiere was produced by Hart House Theatre in January 2010.[citation needed]
[edit] Musical numbers
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[edit] References
- ^ Miller, Scott (2008-07-10). "Inside High Fidelity". New Line Theatre. http://www.newlinetheatre.com/hifichapter.html. Retrieved 2008-07-10.
- ^ "High Fidelity". About The Artists. 201-06-27. http://www.abouttheartists.com/plays/204. Retrieved 2011-06-27.
