One of the smaller roles among the many I reinterpreted was Brigadier-General Sir Francis Cromarty. And through expanding and deepening her character, I was able to find a way into many of the social, political and philosophical questions I wanted to explore in the adaptation. In short, he doesn’t give Mrs Aouda a voice. Verne doesn’t explore her pain over leaving her homeland and her family, her point of view on Fogg or what she experiences when seeing and interacting with unfamiliar cultures and peoples on the journey. And although Verne states clearly that she “received a thoroughly English upbringing” and has terrific command of the English language, she has a total of 12 lines of dialogue. Verne presents her as beautiful and kind but gives her almost no inner life. For me, Mrs Aouda is a victim of her time. The most significant changes are manifest in Mrs Aouda, the well-educated Indian widow whom Fogg and Passepartout rescue from certain death during a ritual Suttee (an archaic tradition where widows were burned to death on the funeral pyre of their husbands). So, the best way to weave these bigger ideas into the adaptation from my point of view was to develop more fully or change characters from Verne’s original conception and root the ideas in these characters. Although my goal was to make a family-friendly piece that was a great night in the theatre, I wanted my story to also address these larger, enduring issues in a subtle but persuasive way. Although there are many differences between America’s export of our culture and the conquests of the British Empire, there are also many similarities and this seemed fertile land in which the adaptation could dig around. US goods are exported or replicated in restaurants and shops all over the world and American culture saturates any land where there is TV or a WiFi connection ( St James Theatre production in rehearsal, pictured below).įor all its greatness, the USA’s exportation of its way of life will continue to have some tragic implications in other cultures as, of course, did the British Empire. Most places on earth have been touched by some aspect of the American culture, with many places forever impacted, having lost local traditions in food, customs and ways of life to the “American way”. He offers little to no criticism of England’s mission to conquer the world and remake it in its own image.Ī protagonist representing a country that blindly believes in exporting its own way of life, even at the cost of destroying the people and culture of the conquered land, felt very relevant to me in the USA of 2008, when the show was first performed. Around the World is set in 1872 and Phileas Fogg, a well-to-do white man, takes his privileged position and wealth for granted and England’s domination of the world in his stride. I started adapting the novel during the third year of the war in Iraq in 2006. "With so much uncertainty filling our news over the past few weeks, Broadway In Chicago is committed to uplifting the Broadway theatre audiences, theatre artists and enthusiasts," Broadway In Chicago President Lou Raizin said.įor more information, visit of the novels/stories/myths that Lookingglass members have adapted include Dickens’s Hard Times, Ovid’s Metamorphoses and Lewis Carroll's two Alice books under the title Lookingglass Alice.ĭuring any given play’s development at Lookingglass we always ask, “Why must this story be told?” to make sure it will be relevant to a modern audience. The program will feature videos of students on both Broadway In Chicago and IHSMTA's social media networks and will be tagged with #AroundBroadwayIn80Days. "Around Broadway In 80 Days" aims to give these young talented performers a virtual Broadway stage to perform on and an audience of Broadway notables. Hundreds of these students across Illinois are left without the opportunity to perform on a stage the musicals they have worked extremely hard on all year," Broadway In Chicago Vice President Eileen LaCario said. "The recent cancellation of these events due to COVID-19 is a crushing blow to our future Broadway stars. The IHSMTA is one of the largest in the country, with nearly 80 schools participating and including more than 3,500 students in Illinois. "Around Broadway In 80 Days" will kick off on Thursday, with a message from virtual emcee Miguel Cervantes from "Hamilton." In the wake of the cancellation of The Jimmy Awards, a national program, and the Illinois High School Musical Theatre Awards, the regional program, the initiative will celebrate and provide a virtual stage for all the participants that were unable to perform in the 2020 IHSMTA event. Broadway In Chicago announced a new social media program celebrating high school musical theater students.ĬHICAGO (WLS) - Broadway In Chicago announced its new social media program "Around Broadway In 80 Days" Wednesday, which will celebrate high schoolers in musical theater.
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