TO SAN DIEGO by lisa lipsey
LA JOLLA PLAYHOUSE BRINGS UNBELIEVABLE TALENT
La Jolla Playhouse has Composer Henry Krieger, Lyricist Bill Russell and Director
Bill Condon working six days a week to debut a revised version of the 1997 Krieger and Russell musical Side Show. Inspired by the true story of conjoined twins, the Hilton sisters, the musical earned Russell a Tony nomination for Best Book. At the same time, he and Krieger were co-nominated for Best Musical Score and the show received a nomination for Best Musical and to top it off the American Theatre Wing made a rare decision to co-nominate Alice Ripley and Emily Skinner as Best Actress in a Musical for their portrayal of the conjoined twins. In case you were wondering… yes, the director of Side Show is that Bill Con- don—the film director and Academy Award-winning screenwriter of Gods and Monsters,Kinsey and (my brain is now exploding), the director of the film versions of Chicago and Dreamgirls. La Jolla Playhouse scored big. Of course, one should acknowledge that Condon most recently directed the box office hits Twilight: Breaking Dawn—Part 1 and Twilight: Breaking Dawn—Part 2. (Both have their merits but I’m just not that into vampires and
werewolves...nor am I 15.) Okay, back to the talents of Russell and Krieger. In 1994 the duo created the opening number of the Radio City Musical Hall Christmas Spectacular “Santa’s Gonna Rock and Roll.” They were then com- missioned for the opening ceremonies of Gay Games IV and “Take the Flame.” The same song subsequently selected as the official anthem of the Gay Games. Their second full-length musical collaboration was, as Russell notes, “…a wacky version of The Ugly Duckling—Hans Christian Andersen was not consulted!” It debuted back east and after a number of revisions premiered at the Old Globe in 2004 under the title Lucky Duck and if you attended Coronado Playhouse’s recent production of Pageant that’s a Russell creation as well. It was difficult to nail down this trio but Russell carved out 15 minutes to chat
with The Rage Monthly about working onSide Show, why the Hilton sisters inspire him and growing up gay in the Black Hills of South Dakota.
Pitch me onSide Show. What’s it about? Side Show is based on the true story of the highest paid Vaudeville act from the
1930s, Siamese twins Daisy and Violet Hilton. There is a 1950s-era terrible movie based on them. Daisy and Violet sang, danced and played musical instruments. It’s
20 RAGE monthly | NOVEMBER 2013
“Some critics have said the show is really a gay metaphor;
They apply and relate the Hilton story to our community.”
an examination of difference.
a difficult role for two actors to sing and act together in absolute synchronicity. What drew you to write about the Hilton Sisters? Well, one of my inspirations was a bar act.
It was the mid-‘80s and I was hanging out in downtown New York City clubs. There were these two guys dressed in drag as Heidi with
their lederhosen. They were made up to look like they were joined at the hip. It was fun, an interesting theatrical thing to do. But the true story of the Hilton sisters really spoke to me. I grew up gay in the Black Hills of South Dakota—you know, like Calamity Jane. To give you some idea of where I lived my father was simply known as Cowboy Russell, so I had immediate empathy that people saw the Hilton sisters as freaks. Some critics have said the show is really a gay metaphor; an examination of
difference. They apply and relate the Hilton story to our community. I think there are many things their story can be related to but if they relate it to our community, that’s fine with me.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80