All posts by Janelle Reichman

NOTES ON THE WRITING OF A GENTLEMAN’S GUIDE

Notes On The Writing of A Gentleman’s Guide To Love And Murder (Applause Books) will be available for purchase online and at select stores. From the publisher’s description: The most frequently asked question about writing musicals is, ‘Which comes first, the music or the lyrics?’ As anyone on Broadway will tell you, the answer is, ‘The book.’ Tony-winning book writer Robert L. Freedman takes you through the process of writing a new musical, including story structure, song placement, dialogue, character development, and more that led to the creation of A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder, the 2014 Best Musical Tony winner. With candor and insight, Freedman describes the challenging and rewarding growing pains of what the critics called ‘Hilarious!’ and ‘Ingenious!’ and said ‘Ranks among the most inspired and entertaining new musical comedies I’ve seen in years.’

From the back cover: “Robert L. Freedman draws back the curtain on the mysterious process of creating a musical, takes you by the hand, and leads you through it all with clarity and insight. If you’re interested in writing a musical, or just interested in musicals, this guide is for you.” Winnie Holzman, book writer of Wicked.

ROBERT’S NEW BOOK, NOTES ON THE WRITING OF A GENTLEMAN’S GUIDE TO LOVE AND MURDER, ARRIVES MAY 15, 2021

Notes On The Writing of A Gentleman’s Guide To Love And Murder (Applause Books) will be available for purchase online and at select stores. From the publisher’s description: The most frequently asked question about writing musicals is, ‘Which comes first, the music or the lyrics?’ As anyone on Broadway will tell you, the answer is, ‘The book.’ Tony-winning book writer Robert L. Freedman takes you through the process of writing a new musical, including story structure, song placement, dialogue, character development, and more that led to the creation of A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder, the 2014 Best Musical Tony winner. With candor and insight, Freedman describes the challenging and rewarding growing pains of what the critics called ‘Hilarious!’ and ‘Ingenious!’ and said ‘Ranks among the most inspired and entertaining new musical comedies I’ve seen in years.’

From the back cover: “Robert L. Freedman draws back the curtain on the mysterious process of creating a musical, takes you by the hand, and leads you through it all with clarity and insight. If you’re interested in writing a musical, or just interested in musicals, this guide is for you.” Winnie Holzman, book writer of Wicked.

WHITNEY HOUSTON, BRANDY CINDERELLA MAKES STREAMING DEBUT ON DISNEY+

The ABC/Wonderful World of Disney Emmy-winning television event, written by Robert L. Freedman, Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella (1997) premiered on Disney+ February 12, 2021 to great acclaim. Starring Whitney Houston, Brandy, Whoopi Goldberg, Victor Garber, Bernadette Peters, Jason Alexander, Natalie Desselle, Veanne Cox, and Paolo Montalban, Cinderella was produced by Craig Zadan, Neil Meron, Debra Martin Chase, and Whitney Houston, and directed by Rob Iscove, with choreography by Rob Marshall. The movie premiered to an audience of over 60 million, unheard of in this day and age, and garnered Robert a Writers Guild Award nomination for his teleplay.

LINK: “It’s Possible: An Oral History of 1997’s Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella”

WORLD PREMIERE OF ROBERT’S NEW MUSICAL, THE FLAMINGO KID, AT HARTFORD STAGE

Robert is back at Hartford Stage, which launched A Gentleman’s Guide To Love And Murder, with his new musical, The Flamingo Kid, for which he’s writing Book and Lyrics, with Music by Scott Frankel (Grey Gardens, War Paint). Based on the screenplay by Neal Marshall and Garry Marshall, the director is, once again, Darko Tresnjak (A Gentleman’s Guide To Love And Murder, Anastasia) with choreography by Denis Jones (Tootsie, Holiday Inn). Opening night is May 24, 2019.

The Flamingo Kid takes place in the summer of ’63. Against the wishes of his father, Brooklyn teenager Jeffrey Winnick leaves behind his blue-collar roots for an exciting job working as a cabana boy at the colorful El Flamingo — a posh private club on Long Island. There, Jeffrey meets Karla, a forward-thinking young woman from California. The music, the romance, the beach are magical — until tensions grow between father and son when a slick club member takes Jeffrey under his wing.


A GENTLEMAN’S GUIDE TO LOVE AND MURDER OPENS IN SOUTH KOREA

The 2014 Tony winner for Best Musical, A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder, opened in a lavish production at the Hongik Daehangno Art Center in Seoul, South Korea, on December 19, 2018. The Korean language production based on Robert L. Freedman’s Tony winning Book, and Tony nominated Score (Music by Steven Lutvak, Lyrics by Robert L. Freedman and Steven Lutvak).


STOCKHOLM WELCOMES A GENTLEMAN’S GUIDE TO LOVE AND MURDER

A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder opened at Oscars Theatre (Oscarsteatern) January 25, 2018 in a Swedish language production, for a three-month run, starring celebrated comic actor Henrik Dorsen. A Gentleman’s Guide won the 2014 Tony Award for Best Musical, and three other Tonys, including Best Book of a Musical (Robert L. Freedman).


THE FLAMINGO KID

The Flamingo Kid opened May 24, 2019, at Hartford Stage in Hartford, Connecticut. Book and Lyrics by Robert L. Freedman. Music by Scott Frankel. Directed by Darko Tresnjak. Choreographed by Denis Jones. Based on the screenplay by Neal Marshall and Garry Marshall.

The Plot: In the summer of ’63, against the wishes of his father, Brooklyn teenager Jeffrey Winnick leaves behind his blue-collar roots for an exciting job working as a cabana boy at the colorful El Flamingo — a posh private club on Long Island. There, Jeffrey meets Karla, a forward-thinking young woman from California. The music, the romance, the beach are magical — until tensions grow between father and son when a slick club member takes Jeffrey under his wing.


JAMES AGEE AND WALKER EVANS HBO FILM

Robert is writing a period drama for HBO set in New York and rural Alabama in the summer of 1936, about the relationship between Pulitzer Prize-winning author James Agee and famed photographer Walker Evans (pictured left). At the height of the Great Depression, the two were hired by Fortune magazine’s publisher, the formidable Henry Luce, to go down south and bring back a story about poor sharecroppers. What transpired eventually became the source for the legendary book, Let Us All Praise Famous Men. The film is set to be directed by Robert Redford. From Sundance Productions.

James Agee

ROBERT WRITES FILM FOR HBO AND DIRECTOR ROBERT REDFORD

Robert is writing a period drama for HBO set in New York and rural Alabama in the summer of 1936, about the relationship between Pulitzer Prize-winning author James Agee and famed photographer Walker Evans (pictured left). At the height of the Great Depression, the two were hired by Fortune magazine’s publisher, the formidable Henry Luce, to go down south and bring back a story about poor sharecroppers. What transpired eventually became the source for the legendary book, Let Us All Praise Famous Men. The film is set to be directed by Robert Redford. From Sundance Productions.

James Agee

A GENTLEMAN’S GUIDE PREMIERES IN SHANGHAI

A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder, the Tony winning Best Musical of 2014, opened in Shanghai, China, on December 15, 2017, in a Mandarin language adaption of Robert L. Freedman’s Tony winning book and Tony nominated score (Music by Steven Lutvak, Lyrics by Robert L. Freedman and Steven Lutvak).


A GENTLEMAN’S GUIDE TO LOVE IN MURDER SETS DATES FOR SECOND NATIONAL TOUR

A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder, the 2014 Tony-winning Best Musical, has announced the full cast and dates for the upcoming 2017-18 National Tour. James Taylor Odom will play eight D’Ysquith heirs and Blake Price will play Monty Navarro. The cast includes Colleen McLaughlin as Sibella Hallward, and Erin McIntyre as Phoebe D’Ysquith. Direction is by Darko Tresnjak, choreography by Peggy Hickey. The tour will begin with performances at Clemens Center in Elmira, New York, September 27-28, and conclude in Butte, Montana on May 13, 2018, with stops across North America along the way.

A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder received 10 Tony nominations, winning 4, including Robert L. Freedman (Best Book of a Musical), Darko Tresnjak (Best Direction of a Musical), and Linda Cho (Best Costume Design). Other nominees were Robert L. Freedman and Steven Lutvak (Best Score), Jefferson Mays (Best Actor in a Musical), Bryce Pinkham (Best Actor in a Musical), Lauren Worsham (Best Featured Actress in a Musical), Alexander Dodge (Best Set Design), Dan Moses Shreier (Best Sound Design).

A GENTLEMAN’S GUIDE GOES TO TOKYO

The first international production (outside of North America) of the 2014 Tony-winning Best Musical A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder opened in Tokyo, in Japanese, in April, 2017 in a spectacular production at the Nissay Theatre, with runs in Kyoto and Osaka to follow. Robert L. Freedman wrote the Tony-winning Book, and the Tony-nominated Score is by Steven Lutvak (Music) and Robert L. Freedman and Steven Lutvak (Lyrics).


NATIONAL TOUR OF A GENTLEMAN’S GUIDE TO LOVE AND MURDER LAUNCHES IN CHICAGO

The National Tour of the 2014 Best Musical Tony winner will premiere September 30, 2015 in Chicago, with John Rapson, Kevin Massey, Kristen Beth Edwards, and Adrienne Eller leading the cast, under the direction of Darko Tresnjak, with choreography by Peggy Hickey. The 18-month tour is scheduled to stop in major cities in the United States and Canada.

A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder received 10 Tony nominations, winning 4, including Robert L. Freedman (Best Book of a Musical), Darko Tresnjak (Best Direction of a Musical), and Linda Cho (Best Costume Design). Other nominees were Robert L. Freedman and Steven Lutvak (Best Score), Jefferson Mays (Best Actor in a Musical), Bryce Pinkham (Best Actor in a Musical), Lauren Worsham (Best Featured Actress in a Musical), Alexander Dodge (Best Set Design), Dan Moses Shreier (Best Sound Design).