It's taken nearly two years of persistence, but "The Slipper and the Rose" will finally have its U.S. premiere at Hale Centre Theatre on Valentine's Day.
The folks at Hale had to acquire stage rights for the musical, an adaptation of the 1976 film that stars Richard Chamberlain. Then came months of behind-the-scenes work to create dozens of special effects and sumptuous costumes.
The news that the show — a tune-filled retelling of "Cinderella" — is finally crossing the Atlantic took the British author of the stage adaptation by surprise.
Calling by phone from London, Philip "Pip" G. Burley — a multitalented composer, director and producer, is probably best known for his BBC TV shows "A Touch of Frost" and "The Darling Buds of May" — said the first he'd heard about it was in an e-mail from the Deseret Morning News requesting an interview.
"It started a long time ago, maybe 15 years or so," Burley said. "I remember sitting down and watching the film on television with my children, and they were quite small then. I thought that it would make great theater — it's written like a stage musical. The way Bryan Forbes directed it, it looked like a stage production."
Burley got in touch with David Frost, one of the film's original producers, and brothers Richard and Robert Sherman, who wrote the music and lyrics, and collaborated with Forbes on the screenplay. "Gradually I got around these guys, and they said I could adapt it for the stage. But it's a lot harder doing it than when you're just thinking about doing it. A lot of it has been rewritten, but it's still very true to the spirit of the original film."
Probably the hardest part was coming up with orchestrations. "All of the original orchestrations were in the Pinewood Studios vault or had simply disappeared, but with the help of the studio, I obtained the original scores — written by Angela Morley, a wonderful orchestrator who had since moved to the United States.
"Now when you're orchestrating for a film, you can record a brass band for one scene and a quartet for another, and you can have any musicians you want and record them whenever you want. But for the theater you need to have one orchestra in the pit.
"There were no orchestrations at all for the film's overture, so we had to transcribe it all by hand; then we had to produce the scores and librettos, after which we launched it onto the United Kingdom's amateur-theater market. There have been maybe 50 productions in recent years — and now this first one in the States."
Two other Sherman musicals, "Chitty, Chitty, Bang, Bang" and Disney's "Mary Poppins," are currently enjoying huge success as London stage productions. ("Chitty" is in the process of moving to Broadway, and "Mary Poppins" just opened in London's West End to rave reviews.)
Burley noted that both of the Shermans "are very elderly men, and both are millionaires," but they've also both been "tremendously supportive" of the stage edition. "Richard lives in Los Angeles, but Robert, who lives in London, is a good friend."
The cast of Hale Centre Theatre's production, choreographed by Marilyn May Montgomery, includes Melinda Lockwood and Jennifer Latimer alternating as Cinderella, Gabriel Hamilton and Ben Hale as Prince Edward, Jennifer Whitlock and Sharon Kenison as the Fairy Godmother, and Stephen McBride and Neal Barth as the King.
If you go
What: "The Slipper and the Rose"
Where: Hale Centre Theatre, 3333 S. Decker Lake Drive, West Valley City
When: Feb. 14-April 9
How much: $14-$21
Phone: 984-9000
Web: www.halecentretheatre.org
E-mail: ivan@desnews.com