Monday, June 18, 2012

"The Last Session" will open in London, Fall 2012.


In a brand-spanking new production, Climar Productions in London will produce the first U.K. production of "The Last Session." Ticketing info. The Playbill story.

This is news I've been sitting on for months, dying to tell everyone. But it's not just bad luck to announce something too early, if there's a glitch of some kind before the last "i" is dotted, you just end up disappointing everyone.

Even though it's been 15 years since it debuted Off-Broadway, I get emails and random handshakes (when out and about) from people I never knew who tell me that the show had a profound impact on them that has resonated through the years.

One of these people is a guy -- a producer in London -- named Rob Harris.

Rob wrote us a few months ago, saying that back in 1997, he and his partner, Simon, were visiting from London. Simon had gone to see a show that Rob -- who was a young agent back then -- wasn't interested in, so he wandered over to the TKTS booth to see what was discounted on the boards.

As he stood in line, he said someone came over and gave him a flyer to The Last Session. Rob looked it over and decided to see it. He tells me he was so taken by the piece, he took Simon the next night. And he loved it even more.

These days, the TKTS booth is a tourist attraction, surrounded by marketing teams handing out coupons and tickets to shows and attractions in New York City. Back then, there were only a few. So, our team of producers and creators each took turns, myself included. Who knows who handed him that flyer? It could have been me!

"I decided that day," he said, "that if I ever become a producer, I would produce this show."

Last year, he saw that dream come true, producing, to great acclaim, a musical called "Thrill Me, The Leopold and Loeb Story."

And then, out of the blue, we get his note about producing TLS.

It'll be interesting to see how people take to it after 15 years. Back then, though we had a healthy run, many people avoided the show because the pain of the AIDS crisis was still fresh. Now, it's a moment in history. A snapshot of an era.

Thanks, Rob. It's so nice to know that TLS lives.


1 comment:

~ Sil in Corea said...

Bless you, Steve! Your musical is well on its way to becoming a classic. Time to take it around the world! I know an expat director who may be your man in South Korea. He adored "The Big Voice" the last time he was in New York City!