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'An American in Paris' dances home to Pittsburgh

Matthew Murphy

'An American in Paris' dances home to Pittsburgh

“An American in Paris” is coming home to Pittsburgh, where it all began.

The Oscar-winning movie starred hometown song-and-dance hero Gene Kelly. The musical theater sensation — winner of four Tony Awards with 12 nominations — can trace its roots to the Pittsburgh CLO. Executive producer Van Kaplan, who with fellow producers Stuart Oken of Elephant Eye Theatricals and Roy Furman, conceived the musical, pulled together a creative team, took the financial risk and have reaped the rewards.

‘An American in Paris’

Where: Pittsburgh CLO and PNC Broadway in Pittsburgh at the Benedum Center, Downtown.

When: May 30-June 11. 7:30 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday, 8 p.m. Friday, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday, and 1 and 6:30 p.m. Sunday.

Tickets: $26-$80; pittsburghclo.org or 412-456-6666.

“An American in Paris” ran on Broadway from April 12, 2015, to Oct. 9, 2016, a total of 623 performances. With the U.S. tour, the London production and other productions worldwide, it soon will recoup its initial $11.5 million investment. Original stars Robby Fairchild and Leanne Cope opened the show in London to “a record-setting 28 five-star reviews,” scream the promos.

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The first steps toward Broadway and beyond included the book by Craig Lucas (“The Light in the Piazza”), which makes some changes to the Alan Jay Lerner screenplay — in particular the love triangle among Jerry (Kelly) and Lise (Leslie Caron in the film) and Henri, an older man who cared for her during World War II.

Christopher Wheeldon wins a Tony Award for his choreography of
Sharon Eberson
Q&A with 'American in Paris' choreographer Christopher Wheeldon

In the musical, Henri is a young man whose family cared for her, and there is another suitor — Jerry’s buddy, Adam (akin to the Oscar Levant movie role), a wounded veteran who also adores Lise.

Christopher Wheeldon, a genius of the ballet world with one Broadway show as a choreographer to his credit, was brought aboard as director/​choreographer to marry his sensibility to the classic dances created by Kelly and the Oscar-winning Gershwin score.

The biggest hurdle in getting the show off the ground was the initial investment and the movie’s fame.

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“One of the reasons ‘An American in Paris’ has never been done on Broadway is that it just sounds like a revival,” Mr. Kaplan explained. “It was only when Christopher created that workshop and people were in the room that we were able to raise the money to do it. Without the CLO and Elephant Eye [providing the seed money], that never would have happened.”

From that initial investment, Pittsburgh CLO will earn a percentage of royalties.

“So, anytime the show is done, for many, many years to come ... when a high school does ‘An American in Paris,’ we’ll receive a royalty check,” Mr. Kaplan said.

“That’s true for all the Broadway shows we are involved in,” he said. “We just received a check for ‘Legally Blonde,’” which opened on Broadway in 2007. “It helps the core organization exist — like little annuities.”

Pittsburgh CLO has been an over-the-title producer of several shows, but “An American in Paris,” from creation and into a seemingly infinite future, “is one that we are completely tied to, like none other,” he said.

It’s also proves that the CLO is more than just one of the leading summer stock companies in the United States. The company’s mission includes the creation and development of new work and the nurturing of emerging talent.

The success of “An American in Paris” shines a light on CLO as it moves around the world. New productions, both domestic and abroad, are keeping Mr. Kaplan very busy. He recently spent six weeks in London for the show’s opening there and is back in time for the tour stop that opens the Pittsburgh CLO summer season, his 20th as head of the 71-year-old company.

“Stuart Oken, Roy Furman and myself are the lead producers, so the future and fate of the show rests with us,” Mr. Kaplan explained.

The touring company on its way to Pittsburgh has a relatively new Jerry, McGee Maddox, a principal dancer with the National Ballet of Canada who joined the company in April. His Lise, Sara Esty, spelled Ms. Cope on Broadway and usually went on once a week during the Broadway run. The cast also includes Etai Benson as Adam, Nick Spangler as Henri, Emily Ferranti (“Wicked” on Broadway) as Milo Davenport and Gayton Scott as Madame Baurel.

“It’s a different cast than Broadway and they bring their own personalities to it, but they are really phenomenal,” said Mr. Kaplan, who in March saw the show debut in Los Angeles.

The Los Angeles Times declared the musical “a joyous homecoming … returning the story, characters and George Gershwin music to the theater where the 1951 film version won the Oscar for best picture.”

In Pittsburgh, the tour’s arrival also is a joyous homecoming, of a movie conceived by Gene Kelly that was reimagined by his hometown musical theater company. As a lead-in on Saturday, Pittsburgh CLO hosted the Gene Kelly Awards to celebrate his legacy by rewarding excellence in high school musical theater.

During the run of the show, on June 9, the company will hold its annual gala, when it is expected that the company will have secured the full $10 million of a capital campaign, part of which will support a new musical festival that will debut in Pittsburgh next year.

Mr. Kaplan is sure to be in town that April week in 2018, when the National Alliance for Musical Theatre will hold its annual conference here.

“There’s a lot going on, which is the way I like it,” he said. “We had the mini festival just a few weeks ago, which was very successful, with the big festival just around the corner. I think that’s going to get great national attention. The CLO is producing a tour of the ‘Little Mermaid,’ which is going to be out on the road for 20 weeks this year, and we’ve got some other projects in the hopper.”

With all that Pittsburgh CLO is handling from Pittsburgh to Broadway and back, has there been any time to reflect on 20 years at the helm?

“Not much time,” Mr. Kaplan said. “But it’s all good.”

Sharon Eberson: seberon@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1960. Twitter: @SEberson_pg.

First Published: May 28, 2017, 4:00 a.m.

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McGee Maddox and Sara Esty in "An American in Paris."  (Matthew Murphy)
McGee Maddox in "An American in Paris."  (Matthew Murphy)
Matthew Murphy
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