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For other uses, see The Woman in White.
The Woman in White is a musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber and David Zippel with a book by Charlotte Jones, based on the novel The Woman in White written by Wilkie Collins. It ran for nineteen months in the West End and three months on Broadway, making it one of Lloyd Webber's least successful shows. The musical differs from the book in many ways.
[edit] Production historyThe musical adaptation of the book opened in London's West End, with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, lyrics by David Zippel, and book by Charlotte Jones, freely adapted from the novel. Directed by Trevor Nunn, it opened Wednesday, 15 September 2004 at the Palace Theatre. It gained attention for its set design, which employed projections rather than traditional scenery. The scenery tended to divide audiences and critics; some found it innovative, but Ben Brantley of The New York Times likened it to being "trapped inside a floating upscale travel magazine." Through its first year, the London production earned some criticism. With the two acts running 2 hours and 20 minutes and a 15-minute interval, the entire show took over 3 hours. Another major problem was with the sets. The projections were dizzying, out of focus, and the revolve (turntable) was not synchronized with the projections. (The revolve is used to move actors from one point of the stage to another while pictures behind them move, giving the effect of a camera swooping about.) Also, at the end of 2004 (in the show's fourth month), the star Michael Crawford was taken ill, as a result of oversweating in the fat suit he wore to play the grotesque character Count Fosco. From late December until early February 2005, Steve Varnom, the understudy, played the role. Renowned British singer/stage star Michael Ball then took over until late April. He received much praise for his portrayal because he had reinvented the role and his interpretation was used as the base for his replacements. On 9 July 2005, the final Original London Cast (except with Fosco being played by Anthony Andrews) appeared on stage. It was also the final performance of the "first" version. The "second" version opened the following Monday night, with an almost completely new cast (some original ensemble members remained, along with Andrews and Edward Petherbridge, who played Mr. Fairlie). This version "previewed" through the rest of summer, inviting critics to return in early September 2005 with the arrival of Simon Callow as the fourth Count Fosco. The production was received with more enthusiasm though feelings were still mixed. The relations between the projections' movements and the revolve were said to be tighter, and the images were more in focus. The cast was also given good notices. The show reportedly received some cutting, but still took roughly as long because of an extended ending which almost filled in the time saved earlier. Staging was also tightened. On 20 January 2006, it was officially announced by producer Sonia Friedman and The Really Useful Theatre Company that the show would close in London on 25 February 2006 after a run of 19 months just reaching its 500th performance. The Broadway production (which is chronicled below) was shortened far more than the Version 2.0. Verses were cut from "Perspective" and "The Seduction," along with "If Not for Me, For Her" (also cut in Version 2.0). The scenery was improved further. William Dudley's curved walls were no longer perfectly round, but oval shaped (it made the images feel more encompassing). The walls also had their doors fixed. The London production (through its end in 2006) had the doors aligned with the walls on only one side, so whenever they were spun around to the audience, there was roughly four inches of excess space between the wall and the door within. The Broadway production solved this problem by attaching the doors to tracks inside the six-inch thick walls so that they would move to the other side whenever the walls were spun. The Broadway production opened on 17 November 2005 at the Marquis Theatre to mostly negative critical reaction. In his New York Times review Ben Brantley wrote: "It's not a terrible show, but it's an awfully pallid one."[1] This followed much publicity after the show's star, Maria Friedman, who had created the role of Marian Halcombe in the original London production, was diagnosed with breast cancer during previews; however, she underwent treatment and returned for the Broadway premiere. In a surprising announcement, the Broadway production closed even earlier than the London production on 19 February 2006, having played 109 regular performances and 20 previews. The producers cited Friedman's frequent absences (as well as the negative reviews) as difficult obstacles to overcome.[2] A rumoured tour of a reconceived production planned to open in Milton Keynes in January 2007 failed to materialise. [edit] Musical numbers
[edit] SynopsisOn a midnight train trip on the way to Limmeridge House as a drawing teacher, Walter Hartright is forced to leave the train, then stumbles across a strange woman dressed entirely in white, apparently escaping from someone and urgent to share a terrible secret with him. He approaches the local signalman, who is scared because although he saw no-one, it has been predicted that in a 'year to this day' that someone would be found dead on the railway track. 'A man such as yourself', the signalman says. ("Prologue"). The story then begins to unfold over the course of a calendar year; will the signalman's chilling prediction come true? The next day, Walter meets his new students: Marian Halcombe and her pretty half-sister Laura Fairlie who is heir to the estate which includes Limmeridge House. ("Hope you like it here"). He tells them about his encounter, and they resolve to solve the mystery ("Perspective"). A 'love triangle' develops with Walter and Laura displaying mutual feelings, but Marian also falls for Walter and those feelings are not reciprocated ("Trying Not To Notice"). Walter and Laura quickly fall in love ("I believe my heart"). Life for the peasants living on the Limmeridge Estate is hard, but they sing and dance to celebrate the harvest ("Lammastide"). Sir Percival Glyde and his friend Count Fosco arrive at Limmeridge to move the wedding date from spring to Christmas. Later, Walter meets up with the woman in white, who is actually named Anne Catherick (pronounced 'Cattrick'), in a graveyard, and she reveals the name of her tormentor: Sir Percival Glyde. Marian, also secretly in love with Walter, informs Walter of Laura's arranged engagement with Sir Percival Glyde and tells him that his relationship with Laura must end. Marian somewhat regrets sending him away, for she secretly loves him as well as Laura. When questioned by Walter about Anne Catherick, Glyde tells him that Anne Catherick is mad. He mentions that he tried to help her, and she thinks him as her enemy and not her friend. Laura is reluctant to marry Glyde, but Marian encourages her to honor her father's dying wish. Walter receives all this news angrily and leaves for London ("You see I am no ghost"). Laura and Glyde are married ("The Holly and the Ivy"). Marian moves into Blackwater House, Glyde's estate. Laura becomes angry and distrustful of Marian, when her advice led her to marry a man whom she discovers to be a physically abusive husband (she reveals severe bruises across her chest and arms) who wants nothing more than her money to pay off his debt. Marian is determined to free Laura from this ill-fated marriage ("All For Laura"). The next day, Glyde presents Laura with a document to sign. He will not tell her the contents of the document. Laura is immediately suspicious, and refuses to sign something she knows nothing about. Glyde is furious, but he can't force her to sign the document. The girls go for a walk to calm down, and happen across Anne Catherick. After talking for a while, they then witness Anne being taken back to the Asylum. They are then completely convinced that Glyde and his flamboyant Italian friend (Fosco) are villains ("The document"). Laura and Anne realise how similar they are to each other ("Act 1 Finale"). Later on in the evening, Marian goes off to the library to eavesdrop on Sir Percival and Count Fosco. She overhears their evil plans to steal the Limmeridge Estate. She also overhears their plans for Anne Catherick, but Count Fosco figures out that he's being watched before he reveals anything important about the madwoman. He leaves the library to put Marian to bed ("If I could dream this world away"). Marian having put to bed starts to dream, which is a montage of events that have occurred recently, mixed in with some noises. The noises, though not apparent to Marian, is actually Laura aguing and screaming ("The nightmare"). Not long after that, Marian is woken up by Count Fosco, who tells her that Laura was walking in her sleep and fell out the window. Marian is quite shaken by the tragic news. Count Fosco avoiding drama heads off to his house in London, however being quite infatuated with Marian, he gives her his address in case she needs anything. Marian vows to avenge her sister's death and punish whom she believes to be the murderers. Glide also tries to talk Mr Fairlie into signing over the house, but is put off till June ("Fosco tells of Laura's death / The funeral / London"). Having heard the news through the grapevine of Laura's death, Walter expresses his grief at losing the love of his life. A picture of how Walter's love for Laura still goes on, and how his entire life is completely changed since meeting her. Coincidentally, Glyde, who is frustrated with paperwork, also shares Walter's feelings for Laura's absence ("Evermore Without You"). Marian goes to London in search of Walter Hartright. On her arrival, she discovers how different London is from home, and soon learns that people are only looking after themselves. Luckily she stumbles across a picture of Laura that has been painted by Walter. The owner of the shop provides an address for Walter, whom she finds him living in a rundown old home ("Lost Souls"). At first, he is very angry with her for sending him away, but when Marian makes a heartfelt plea, he joins Marian in her quest to learn the secret of Anne Catherick and avenge Laura's death. Marian believes that Anne's location is in a document that she witnessed Count Fosco sign the night she eavesdropped. Meanwhile Glyde is happily betting the money that he has not yet received, which infuriates Fosco and leads to a split in their friendship. Back to Marian and Walker, who are ready to leave for their visit to Count Fosco's, Marian is dressed specifically with the intent to use her feminine wiles against Fosco, which makes Walter suddenly realises his true feelings for her ("If not for me for her"). Fosco, pleased with his part in the manipulation of everyone, gloats to himself and his pet mice ("You can get away with anything"). They both go to Count Fosco's home to retrieve the document. Count Fosco attempts to seduce Marian, not realizing that she is purposefully playing along. She sends him to the bathroom to shave as a diversion, whilst she searches for the document, which she finds, and discovers the locations of Anne's asylum. When Count Fosco returns from the bathroom, he figures out that Marian is visiting for another purpose. A rejected Count Fosco admits that if Marian was really interested in him, that he would have offered marriage and travel ("The Seduction"). Marian and Walter go to the asylum to talk the secret out of Anne Catherick. However, when they arrive at Anne's cell, they find not Anne, but Laura! Laura explains the conspiracy: Sir Percival Glyde put Laura in Anne's place at the asylum, killed Anne, and buried her in Laura's grave. In desperation, the threesome head to Limmeridge House to try to get the secret out of Mr. Fairlie, who knows more about Anne Catherick than he says he does ("The Asylum"). Meanwhile, Sir Percival Glyde has convinced Mr. Fairlie to give the Limmeridge Estate to him because he was married to Laura. Mr. Fairlie signs the document and Glyde goes off to catch a train. Marian, Laura and Walter arrive at Limmeridge House right after Glyde has left for the train. Mr. Fairlie admits that he doesn't know her secret, but he does reveal that Anne Catherick is in fact Laura's half-sister, and they looked identical. Marian tells him of the conspiracy, but Mr. Fairlie sadly tells her that he already signed the document. The three run to the train to stop Glyde from getting away ("Back To Limmeridge"). While still in Anne's white clothing, Laura pretends to be Anne and attempts to haunt Glyde for the rest of eternity if he doesn't tell the truth about the secret. "I had to drown your bastard child!" he exclaims. Laura reads between the lines and figures out the Secret: Glyde had raped Anne, and drowned the child at Blackwater Lake. He tries to kill Laura to silence her, but then he gets run over by a train. The signalman's prediction at the beginning of the piece comes true, but it is Glyde, not Walter, that dies. Walter and Laura are happily married, Walter inherits Limmeridge House, and Marian is left onstage heartbroken ("Act 2 Finale"). Later on in the original run (and subsequent Broadway production), Marian's heartbroken ending is interrupted to show that she goes with them and helps to take care of their children (this is inferred). This was apparently to make the ending more appealing. [edit] Cast members[edit] Original London cast
[edit] Original Broadway cast
[edit] Cast replacement historyIn the role of Marian Halcombe:
In the role of Count Fosco:
In the role of Anne Catherick:
In the role of Walter Hartright:
In the role of Laura Fairlie:
In the role of Sir Percival Glyde:
[edit] Awards and nominations
[edit] References[edit] External links
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