One year after Goin’ Hollywood made its world premiere at WaterTower Theatre in Addison, Shane Peterman, the theater’s Producing Artistic Director, announced plans for the musical to make its London premiere.
“We are currently retaining investment for a run at Charing Cross Theatre,” Peterman said.
The new musical with book and lyrics by Stephen Cole and music by David Krane features a strong female lead, Alice Chandler, a writer who doesn’t feel like she fits in her own era. She makes a birthday wish that transports her and her writing partner, Garson Stein, back to 1949, the heyday of Hollywood’s movie musicals. Alice and Garson end up working as writers for L.B. Meyer at MGM Studios, surrounded by Hollywood’s brightest stars.
Last summer’s world premiere production was a success, winning audience approval and critical praise for its score.
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“It sold at over 90% capacity. There were multiple people who came back multiple times. Our audiences really loved it. Ultimately, it’s an entertaining piece.” Peterman said. “The score elevates the piece to true musical theater high art with those flavors of Leonard Bernstein, Sondheim and some of the greats.”
Peterman is a producer for the London production, working with a management/producer in London. Peterman anticipates the show will have an eight-week run at the London theater located under Charing Cross Station in late 2025 or early 2026 before hopefully transferring to London’s West End and then possibly moving off-Broadway.
The Scene
The decision to transfer to London rather than New York is a business decision.
“New York is still a tricky investment. Audiences are down. Costs are up. Tourism is still down. It’s tricky. I’ve talked to a handful of producers who have told me they are not producing in New York right now. It’s hard to find investors in a model where one out of five shows will recoup, meaning it will get its money back, we can pay our investors back. Only one out of five. Now those are still better odds than some investments and it’s much more exciting. New York has to be now one out of 10 or one out of 12 will recoup. It’s much more affordable to produce a show in London. It’s close to what our budget is here at WaterTower Theatre. Obviously, it is higher, but not by a lot, quite frankly.”
Developing, investing in and transferring new works is a personal mission for Peterman.
“I feel a responsibility as CEO here to further invest in the art form,” Peterman said. “And I firmly believe that if we’re not investing in the future and the artists and the storytellers and designers that will bring this work to us, we’ll have a lot less work to produce and go around.”
Peterman and WaterTower Theatre are working on developing two other shows. In June, the theater workshopped Say Goodnight, a new romantic musical comedy by an Oscar, Golden Globe-nominated, and Emmy, Grammy Award-winning trio Rick Hawkins, Steve Dorff, and John Bettis. Peterman anticipates the show will be included in WaterTower Theatre’s season within the next couple of years.
He recently acquired rights to Same Kind of Different As Me, the memoir which was made into a film about the unlikely friendship between Ron Hall, an international art dealer and Denver Moore, a homeless man. Peterman is building the production from the ground up and interviewing writers who will tell the story through Moore’s eyes.
“I am aware that most theaters are still struggling, and we are actually back to pre-COVID and growing in terms of numbers and budgets, but I’m not aware of many others, certainly here in DFW, if any, that are reinvesting in the artform and certainly producing and taking shows out at a commercial level,” Peterman said.
A London production of Goin’ Hollywood creates opportunity for these new works as WaterTower Theatre develops them.
“I love London. I love the culture. I love everything about the U.K. artistically. I think it’s making a way for WaterTower, which does have a national reputation, to widen that scope to an international reputation for the theatre and the Town of Addison. And to pave a way for my next projects to go over there,” Peterman said.
Learn more: WaterTower Theatre
