Amélie (musical)

Amélie: A New Musical
UK promotional logo
Music	Daniel Messé
Lyrics	Daniel Messé Nathan Tysen
Book	Craig Lucas
Basis	2001 film Amélie
Premiere	September 11, 2015: Berkeley Repertory Theatre
Productions	2015 Berkeley 2016 Los Angeles 2017 Broadway 2019 UK tour 2021 West End

Amélie is a musical based on the 2001 romantic comedy film with music by Daniel Messé, lyrics by Messé and Nathan Tysen and a book by Craig Lucas. The musical premiered at Berkeley Repertory Theatre in September 2015. The musical opened on Broadway in the Walter Kerr theatre on March 9, 2017 (first preview) April 3rd, 2017 was the official opening night and closed on May 21, 2017.

A substantially transformed production, with new orchestrations, an expanded repertoire of songs, and new staging in the actor/muso style, opened on the West End in December 2019, at the Other Palace. Critics praised its improvements on the Broadway version, with The Guardian describing it as "a triumph of adaptation"^[1] "high on imagination",^[1] while The Daily Telegraph lauded the "wonderful, wistful evening" it made.^[2] It was nominated for three awards at the 2020 Laurence Olivier Awards: Best New Musical, Best Original Score or New Orchestrations, and Best Actress in a Musical (for Audrey Brisson as Amélie).

Productions[]

Daniel Messé (of Hem) wrote the lyrics with Nathan Tysen, Craig Lucas wrote the book, and Messé wrote the music in the adaptation of the movie for the stage.^[3][4]

Berkeley Repertory Theatre (2015)[]

Amélie had its premiere at Berkeley Repertory Theatre. The musical was directed by Pam MacKinnon and starred Samantha Barks in the title role of Amélie, with scenic and costume design by David Zinn, lighting design by Jane Cox and Mark Barton and projections by Peter Nigrini.^[5][6]

Los Angeles (2016)[]

The musical opened at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles in a pre-Broadway engagement, running from December 4, 2016 to January 15, 2017^[4] with Phillipa Soo taking over the role of Amélie.^[7][8] The cast for the Los Angeles and Broadway productions includes Adam Chanler-Berat, Manoel Felciano, and Tony Sheldon.^[9]

Broadway (2017)[]

The musical opened on Broadway at the Walter Kerr Theatre on March 9, 2017 in previews, officially on April 3.^[10] Direction is by Pam MacKinnon with musical staging and choreography by Sam Pinkleton. Puppet design is by Amanda Villalobos.^[11] The show closed on May 21, 2017, after 27 previews and 56 regular performances.^[12]

Japanese production (2018)[]

The musical opened at The Galaxy Theater in Tokyo, Japan for a limited engagement on May 18 to June 3, 2018. The musical then opened for a limited engagement at Morinomiya Piloti Hall, Osaka, on June 7 to June 10.^[13] Direction was by Akiko Kodama with choreography by Kuroda Eriko and Nishikawa Taku. The production used a new staging by Yagi Emiko and was translated into Japanese by Shigai Tsu. The cast for the Japanese production included Watanabe Mayu as Amélie and Atsuhi Ota as Nino.^[13]

German production (2019)[]

The musical, under the title "Die fabelhafte Welt der Amélie" (The Fabulous World of Amélie) had its European premiere in Germany in February 2019 at the Werk7 Theater in Munich produced by Uschi Neuss and Joop Van Den Ende.^[14] On the 13th of November 2018^[15] It was announced that Sandra Leitner would star as Amélie in the German production.

UK production (2019-2021)[]

The musical premiered in the United Kingdom at the Watermill Theatre in Newbury, where it ran from 11 April to 18 May 2019, before embarking on a UK tour.^[16] Directed by Michael Fentiman, the production is noted for using the actor-muso approach, where the actors themselves provides the musical accompaniment. The original Watermill cast included Audrey Brisson as Amélie and Chris Jared as Nino.^[17] Danny Mac later joined the cast as Nino.^[18] The production made its London debut at The Other Palace during the Christmas season, from 29 November 2019 until 1 February 2020.^[19] The entire UK tour cast (with the exception of Mac, who was replaced by Jared) reprised their respective roles in the London run.^[20] The show was favourably reviewed.^[21]

The show was nominated for 3 Laurence Olivier Awards, including Best New Musical and Best Actress in a Musical for Brisson, in the 2020 ceremony.^[22] The show's album was also nominated for Best Musical Theater Album in the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards in 2021.^[23]

The production transferred to the West End at the Criterion Theatre, with its first performance on the 20th May 2021.^[24] The majority of the original London cast are reprising their respective roles, including Brisson and Jared as Amélie and Nino respectively.^[25]

Finnish production (2019)[]

The musical will have its premiere in Finland in Turku City Theatre on 13 September 2019. Director and choreographer of the show is Reija Wäre, musical staging is by Jussi Vahvaselkä.^[26] Amelie is played by Marketta Tikkanen, and Nino by Mikael Saari.^[26]

Australian production (2020)[]

The musical will have its Australian premiere at Darlinghurst Theatre in Sydney, New South Wales. It was originally to preview from the 2nd of July and open on the 10th. The production has been postponed due to the Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the performing arts until further notice. The director of the show is Shaun Rennie. This production will have the same actor-musician casting approach as the 2019 UK production.^[27]

The Netherlands production (2021 - 2022)[]

It was announced that a Dutch language version of the musical will be performed as a national tour in the Netherlands in 2021 and 2022.^[28] This version of the musical will be produced by Morssinkhof Terra Theatrical and feature Dutch actress Christanne de Bruijn as Amélie.

Plot[]

NOTE: This synopsis is based on the first Broadway preview. Changes may have been implemented to the show since then.

The musical opens with an introduction of young Amélie and her family ("Times Are Hard For Dreamers (Prologue)"). Young Amélie is born to a germaphobe father, Raphael, and neurotic mother, Amandine, and she feels isolated and emotionally distant from her parents. She takes solace in her telescope, which she uses to view the universe from afar. Her only contact with her parents comes in the form of a monthly health check-up from her father. One day, Amélie gets so excited to see him that her heart races and Raphael misdiagnoses her with a heart condition ("World's Best Dad").

Her parents, paranoid, begin to homeschool Amélie and cut off all of her contact with the outside world. In a lesson with Amandine one day, Amélie imagines her goldfish, Fluffy, coming alive and speaking to her ("World's Best Friend"). When Amélie allows Fluffy to jump into her drinking glass, her parents panic and force Amélie to release Fluffy into the Seine, leaving her alone. Feeling bad, Amandine takes Amélie to Notre Dame to make up for what happened, and Amandine prays for guidance on how to deal with Amélie and hopes for a son ("World's Best Mom"). When they leave the cathedral, Amandine is crushed and killed by a suicidal tourist who leapt from the top of it. The death hits Raphael hard, and he builds a shrine in their home to Amandine, complete with a garden gnome.

Years pass, and Amélie becomes bored with her quiet life and distant father, and she decides to leave home. Five years later, she is a waitress at a café in Montmartre ("Times Are Hard for Dreamers"). She has a quiet, happy life, and spends her time with her three co-workers: Suzanne, the café's owner and a past circus performer, Georgette, a hypochondriac, and Gina. Some of Amélie's regular customers include Gina's ex-boyfriend Joseph, Hipolito, a poet, and Philomene, an air hostess. ("The Commute")

On the night of Princess Diana's death, Amélie discovers a box of childhood treasures belonging to the man who used to own her apartment ("The Bottle Drops"). She is determined to find the owner and anonymously deliver the box to him, and if the owner is touched by her gesture, she resolves that she will become an anonymous do-gooder. She first meets with a cranky grocer, Colignon, who constantly abuses his assistant, Lucien, a mentally-ill young man that has an obsession with fruit ("Three Figs"). Colignon tells Amélie to confer with his mother on the other side of town.

At the train station, Amélie spots a man her age, Nino, who she is attracted to. However, the train arrives before she can introduce herself to him. At Colignon's mother's home, Amélie learns the surname of the box's owner: Bredoteau. When Amélie returns home Nino spots her on the street, noticing how pretty she is and finds himself intrigued with the box.

Time passes, and Amélie's search for Bredoteau isn't working out. One day, she speaks to her neighbor, Julien Dufayel—an artist who suffers from a brittle bone disease, giving him the nickname 'The Glass Man'—and, possibly recognizing the box, tells her that Bredoteau is the incorrect name. The man was really called Bretodeau. Dufayel then shows Amélie his recreation of the painting The Luncheon of the Boating Party, remarking on Amélie's isolation ("The Girl with the Glass").

Amélie discovers Bretodeau in the phonebook and calls him from a payphone, telling him where he can pick up the box ("How To Tell Time"). When Bretodeau finds it, he reflects on his childhood and decides to call his ex-wife and arrange to meet their son. Taking it as a sign, Amélie continues her good-doing, taking a blind beggar on a tour of the streets of Paris, describing his surroundings in detail. ("Tour de France").

Later that night, Amélie has a strange dream where she imagines her lavish funeral in the style of Princess Diana's, where she is serenaded by Elton John and dubbed 'Godmother of the Unloved' – someone who gives herself to help others despite not being able to find her own love ("Goodbye Amélie") (In the West End production, this song ends the first act). Amélie suddenly realizes she hasn't helped her father and visits him the next day and tries to convince him to leave home ("Backyard"). He refuses, saying he can't leave the garden gnome, so Amélie secretly steals it as she leaves. On her way home, she spots Nino again at the train station, where he drops a photo album on the ground that Amélie takes.

Amélie explores the album with Dufayel, and finds it is full of photo-booth photographs, one of which is a picture of a man who appears over and over again, expressionless. Nino appears and explains the meaning of the photos to the company ("When the Booth Goes Bright"). Amélie watches him from the distance, and Dufayel, seeing her attraction to him, encourages her to give the album back and meet Nino.

Amélie seeks out his place of work, a sex shop, and goes dressed as a nun. While she waits for Nino, the other employees mock him, unknowingly painting him as a perfect match for Amélie. However, when he arrives, Amélie runs away ("Sister's Pickle"). He chases her but she escapes and reflects on her childhood, remembering how her mother told her never to get too close to anyone ("Halfway"). Amélie then calls Nino, but refuses to give him her identity, instead sending him a photo of her in another disguise and a riddle to solve.

At the café, Amélie secretly instigates a romantic encounter between Joseph and Georgette. Her father then turns up, telling Amélie about the missing gnome and how he has been getting anonymous postcards detailing the gnome's travels ("There's No Place Like Gnome"). The travels encouraged Raphael to step out of the house to look for him, and Amélie uses the opportunity to get him to relax and embrace the change, while introducing him to Suzanne, who he falls for.

Meanwhile, Nino has been searching Paris for Amélie, and handing out posters with her photo on them to anyone he sees, wondering how he's fallen for someone who doesn't want to be found ("Thin Air"). While doing another of her good deeds—spray painting a quote from one of Hipolito's poems on walls around Paris—Amélie notices the flyers and runs home, sending Nino another photo and instructions to meet her at the Montmartre Carousel.

Amélie constructs an elaborate trail to lead Nino to the album ("Blue Arrow Suite") and watches him follow it. When he finds the album, she calls out to him, asking about the man in the photo-booth. However, Nino is more interested in seeing her face, and she agrees to meet him at the café on Tuesday.

Tuesday arrives and Nino is late for the meeting, prompting Amélie to imagine an elaborate story to his reasoning ("The Late Nino Quincampoix"). Meanwhile, Georgette is overwhelmed by Joseph's clingy nature. Nino shows up, but when he recognizes Amélie, she finds herself nervous and runs from him. Hurt and tired, Nino leaves, but the girls in the café go after him just as Amélie reconsiders and returns. Asking of Nino's whereabouts, Joseph lies and says he went off with Gina. Heartbroken, Amélie returns home.

Outside the café, Gina, Georgette and Suzanne demand to know Nino's intentions with Amélie ("A Better Haircut"). Nino says he is honestly in love with her, and needs to know how she feels for him. Touched, Georgette gives him Amélie's address.

At home, Dufayel tries to talk to Amélie, but she angrily tells him to stay out of her business, not stopping to hear that he has finally gotten out of his rut and painted a unique picture: a portrait of her. As she goes inside, Nino shows up outside her door and begs a conflicted Amélie to let him inside and stop running from him ("Stay"). She is convinced to let Nino inside when Dufayel, through the apartment's window, shows Amélie his painting and insists that she'll regret not trying a relationship with Nino.

She opens the door and tells Nino she wants to be with him. He tells her he loves her, even if she cannot love him back ("Halfway (Reprise)"). They kiss and Amélie takes him to the photo booth, where she shows him the answer to the mystery of the man in the album: he's the repairman who takes a photo after fixing the booth, to check if it works properly. They go into the photo booth, taking pictures together, and reflecting on their newfound happiness and wondering what will happen next ("Where Do We Go From Here?").

Songs and recordings[]

An original Broadway cast recording of the show was released by Warner Classics, digitally on May 19 and physically on June 9, 2017.^[29]

• "Times Are Hard for Dreamers (Prologue)" - Young Amelie, Company
• "World's Best Dad" - Young Amelie, Raphael
• "World's Best Friend" - Young Amelie, Amandine, Fluffy
• "World's Best Mom" - Young Amelie, Amandine
• "Times Are Hard For Dreamers" - Amelie
• "The Commute" - Company
• "The Bottle Drops" - Young Amelie, Amelie, Company
• "Three Figs" - Lucien
• "The Girl With the Glass" - Dufayel, Amelie
• "How to Tell Time" - Amelie, Bretodeau, Company
• "Tour de France" - Amelie, Company
• "Goodbye, Amelie" - Amelie, "Elton John," Chorus
• "Backyard" - Amelie, Raphael
• "When the Booth Goes Bright" - Nino
• "Sister's Pickle" - Amelie
• "Halfway" - Young Amelie, Amelie
• "Window Seat" - Amelie, Gina, Gina's Husband, Company
• "There's No Place Like Gnome" - Gnome, Company
• "Thin Air" - Nino
• "Blue Arrow Suite" - Amelie
• "The Late Nino Quincampoix" - Amelie, Chorus
• "A Better Haircut" - Gina, Suzanne, Georgette, Nino
• "Stay" - Amelie, Nino
• "Halfway" (Reprise) - Amelie
• "Where Do We Go From Here" - Amelie, Nino, Company

Source: IBDB^[30][31]

The Original London Cast Recording was released by Concord Records digitally on June 5, 2020.^[32][33]

Act 1:

• The Flight of the Blue Fly - Company
• World's Best Papa - Jen Uzwin, Audrey Brisson, Rachel Dawson
• Post Mortem - Audrey Brisson, Company
• The Sound of Going Round in Circles - Audrey Brisson, Company
• The Commute Home - Caolan McCarthy, Audrey Brisson, Company
• When the Booth Goes Bright - Chris Jared, Company
• The Bottle Drops - Audrey Brisson, Company
• The Girl With the Glass - Johnson Willis, Audrey Brisson
• How to Tell Time - Audrey Brisson, Jez Unwin
• Tour de France - Audrey Brisson, Josh Sneesby, Company
• Goodbye, Amélie - Caolan McCarthy, Company

Act 2:

• Half Asleep - Audrey Brisson, Chris Jared, Company
• Backyard - Audrey Brisson, Jez Unwin
• Sister's Pickle - Audrey Brisson
• Halfway - Audrey Brisson, Rachel Dawson
• Window Seat - Sophie Crawford, Audrey Brisson, Caolan McCarthy, Kate Robson-Stuart
• Thin Air - Chris Jared, Company
• There's No Place Like Gnome - Oliver Grant, Jez Unwin, Company
• Times Are Hard For Dreamers - Audrey Brisson
• Blue Arrow Suite - Audrey Brisson, Company
• The Late Nino Quincampoix - Audrey Brisson, Kate Robson-Stuart, Sophie Crawford, Faoileann Cunningham, Samuel Morgan-Grahame, Caolan McCarthy
• A Better Haircut - Kate Robson-Stuart, Faoileann Cunningham, Sophie Crawford, Chris Jared
• Stay - Audrey Brisson, Chris Jared, Company
• Halfway (Reprise) - Audrey Brisson, Chris Jared, Company
• Where Do We Go From Here? - Audrey Brisson, Chris Jared, Company

Source: Spotify

Original casts[]

Critical reception[]

The San Francisco Chronicle gave the Berkeley production of the show a rave review, saying "wit crackles and charm fills the house…in this seamless blend of visual, narrative and performance delights."^[35]

On Broadway, the show received mixed reviews, often praising Soo, the cast and design elements of the show, but being critical of the score. According to The New York Times, "The musical, adapted from the 2001 film about a shy but whimsically altruistic French waitress, had struggled at the box office since opening to underwhelming reviews. Without a single Tony nomination in a competitive Broadway season, an uptick in sales was unlikely."^[36]

The London version received much more positive reviews, with many praising the re-orchestrations and Audrey Brisson's lead performance. This production was nominated for three Olivier Awards and one Grammy.

Awards and nominations[]

Original Broadway production[]

Original London production[]

References[]

External links[]

• Amélie at the Internet Broadway Database