Broadway talent to film concerts on Westport stage
Westport Country Playhouse dives into televising theater trend
Long before he made his Broadway debut in “Thoroughly Modern Millie” in 2002 in the lead role of Jimmy, Gavin Creel was a young boy in Findlay, Ohio, who wanted to act and sing.
Being able to watch some of his idols on PBS’ Great Performances television series, he was able to experience musical theater even living far from the footlights of the Great White Way.
“I just can’t emphasize enough the importance of those kinds of performances on me when I was growing up watching ‘Into the Woods,’ ‘Sunday in the Park with George’ or the Sondheim celebration at Carnegie Hall,” he said. “They informed me as to what was out there because there was no internet.”
“Lights! Camera! Stars on Stage” is a three-part concert series featuring performances at the Westport Country Playhouse by Shoshanna Bean Aug. 31, Creel on Sept. 1 and Brandon Victor Dixon Sept 2. The artists will perform two shows each that will be taped for future national television broadcast. There will be two onehour performances per evening, at 7 and 9 pm. The broadcast network and dates are to be announced.
Creel hopes that perhaps there will be another young boy who sees his performance on television and is inspired to pursue a career in musical theater. Overall, he is pleased to see technology being used to attract new theater audiences, something that seems especially relevant over the last year and a half when many concert halls and theaters were shuttered. “I really am grateful that we are finding really interesting and quality ways to share this stuff with people who don’t have the opportunity or the money or the traveling ability or the traveling ability to get to New York,” he said.
The creator and executive producer of this new series at the Playhouse is Westport resident Andrew C. Wilk, who was the executive producer of PBS’s “Live From Lincoln Center” from 2012-2019. Donald Thoms and Annette Jolles will produce, and Jolles and Wilk will serve as directors of the three programs.
Taping performances for television
is quite costly so most venues can’t often do this. Wilk said he was grateful for the local sponsors that made this happen. This will not be the first time the Playhouse has filmed productions for television but it has only done it sporadically. In 2016, its production of “Buyer & Cellar’’ was filmed for broadcast on New York public television station, “Thirteen,” and notably the 2002 production of “Our Town,” starring Paul Newman, was televised.
“It’s going to be exciting. Bringing a national broadcast into Westport; it’s great obviously for the Playhouse but I think it’s also great for the community,” Wilk said. “We have always been an arts community. I think this is another kind of gold star for us, at least that’s what I am hoping.”
He is also hopeful that TV ratings will be strong enough to ensure this series is the first with more to come down the road, perhaps once or twice a year from area venues. Living a few minutes down the road from the Playhouse, he created this series specifically with the Playhouse in mind.
“I chose Westport Country Playhouse because of its renown as one of the most esteemed and historic regional theaters in the country,” he said. “Together, we are launching this series in the tradition of bringing great art to television viewers everywhere.”
Having had a large team when he did shows like this for Lincoln Center, Wilk noted he and his producing team, comprising just three people, are “eyes wide open” as to the staggering amount of work and logistics to overcome. They are not daunted though and Wilk credits the Playhouse as being a great partner.
“It is a chance to give wonderful artists like these three a national platform,” he said. “That is the reason to do this when you take a performer that people love like Shoshana, Gavin or Brandon,” Wilk said. Audiences will get much more than music but a deeper insight into these performers. “You are going to hear great stories and anecdotes and most of all they are going to sing. They have original arrangements, backup singers and guest artists so it’s really a kick-ass combination of things.”
Creel starred in “Hello Dolly!” and “The Book of Mormon” and Bean in “Wicked” and “Waitress.” Dixon is best known for “Hamilton” and NBC’s “Jesus Christ Superstar.”
Tickets are available for subscribers, current ticket holders, and donors. Proof of COVID-19 vaccination is required. A limited number of tickets for each show, at $75 and $20 each, are on sale for the public. For tickets and information, westportplayhouse.org.