No one can accuse the producers at the Charing Cross Theatre of playing it safe. Since the appointment of Thom Southerland as Artistic Director they've already had two big hits with revivals of cult musicals TITANIC and RAGTIME and the more obscure DEATH TAKES A HOLIDAY opens there soon.
But, with the departure of co-producer Danielle Tarento, it's their next production which is really eye brow raising.
It's to be the world premier of what's described as "a major new musical inspired by the story of Louis Braille" THE BRAILLE LEGACY, which we're told "tells the thrilling, true, inspirational and epic story of Louis Braille, a young blind boy who wanted the same chance in life as those who see and ended up improving the lives of millions of blind people around the world". Apparently "In Paris in the 19th century, blind people were victims of profound discrimination. Louis Braille, a bright young mind with a mad dream, arrives at the Royal Institute of Blind Youth, searching for the same chance as everyone else: to be free and independent. But he soon discovers that people and things aren’t always what they first seem. By sheer determination and courage he stumbles upon something revolutionary: a simple idea, a genius invention, a legacy. Two hundred years ago, Louis Braille changed the world by inventing the tactile system of communication, the Braille alphabet, liberating the “People of the Night” and introducing literacy, knowledge and culture to a people who were otherwise trapped. It was their journey into the light".
It doesn't sound a terribly likley subject for a musical, rather than a play, but perhaps they'll convey the texture of Braille text through music in the way that the score of Sondheim's musical SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE expresses the fast dotted brush stokes of Pointillism painting through rapid minimalist style music.
And let's not forget that on paper musicals about singing felines, a deformed creature beneath the Paris Opera House, The War in the South Pacific and the adventures of a singing nun escaping the Nazis must have sounded silly too yet they've gone on to be the hit shows CATS, PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, SOUTH PACIFIC and THE SOUND OF MUSIC.
It should definitely be a tear jerker if it can give us an insight into how if feels to be blind. The show is supported by the Royal National Institute of Blind People.
The writers certainly have good classical composition credentials. We're told that " Sébastien Lancrenon (original idea, French Book & Lyrics) is a veteran in the world of classical music. He began his career as a professional solo singer at an early age. Until recently he was Director of Radio Classique (Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy Group) in France. Sébastien left Radio Classique in order to focus on developing “The Braille Legacy” musical and now lives in London. Jean-Baptiste Saudray (Music) studied piano from the age of five at the Schola Cantorum, where he won a number of awards. Jean-Baptiste has composed for and worked with various international artists, including Ray Charles, Jean-Michel Jarre, The Gypsy Kings and David Guetta. Ranjit Bolt (English translation) is one of Britain’s leading adaptors and translators. His work includes adaptations of classics such as “Le Misanthrope” and “Tartuffe” by Molière and various works by La Fontaine, Corneille, Scribe… and has been produced to great acclaim at the Old Vic, National Theatre and by the Royal Shakespeare Company. In 2002 he was awarded an OBE for his services to literature as a translator"
The show is to star the Olivier Award nominated Jérôme Pradon, whose West End credits include Women On The Verge Of A Nervous Breakdown, Guillaume in Martin Guerre, The Man in Whistle Down the Wind, Aragorn in The Lord of the Rings musical, Chris in Miss Saigon and Javert in Les Misérables in London and Marius in Paris, as well as Judas in the Emmy-winning video of Jesus Christ Superstar.
With that class of collaborators this could be a daring and invigorating hit. It will run at Charing Cross Theatre from Monday 10 April to Saturday 24 June.
The English National Opera at the Coliseum has a new Artistic Director, the relatively inexperienced Daniel Kramer. Like his predecessors he's promising to balance the pioneering with the populist. But mostly the populist. We've previously reported that the vast and beautiful venue will be home to a starry revival of Rodgers and Hammerstein's classic musical CAROUSEL in the summer.