Robin de Levita Productions, Gorgeous Entertainment, and Wolk Transfer Company have announced their intentions to bring The Pianist to Broadway.
Based on the memoir by Polish-Jewish pianist and composer Władysław Szpilman (also the source material for the Academy Award winning 2002 film of the same name), The Pianist will feature an original score by acclaimed Dutch concert pianist Iris Hond as adapted by Emily Mann, who will also direct the production. The production is not a musical, but a play with music embedded throughout.
Tony winner Santino Fontana will star as Szpilman in a by-invitation only development reading June 23. He will be joined by Richard Topol, Georgia Warner, Claire Beckman, Arielle Goldman, Paul Spera, Addison Finley, Jordan Lage, Robert David Grant, and Tina Benko.
The Pianist tells the life story of Szpilman, a survivor of Nazi-occupied Warsaw in World War II. Szpilman, an acclaimed pianist and composer, is disconnected from his family when they are sent to the Nazi death camps, and he is forced to turn to his music as his only means of survival.
"The Pianist tells a soaring tale of survival and triumph through music," says producer Michael Wolk. "It is a riveting story that is fiercely present tense—though it’s set in the past, it shows us that just like today, worlds are destroyed when we demonize each other. And it gives us hope by showing how human connections and the power of music can transcend hate and fear and heal our hearts."
The Pianist is produced by Robin de Levita and Kees Abrahams at Robin de Levita Productions, Kumiko Yoshii and Brendan Ryan Walsh at Gorgeous Entertainment, and Michael Wolk at Wolk Transfer Company.
The production team includes scenic design by Beowulf Boritt, sound design by Mark Bennett, and general management by Carl Pasbjerg at Alchemy Production Group. The production will feature the first-time theatrical use of Atmos Dolby Surround Sound, engineered by Felix Penny.
To learn more, please visit ThePianistPlay.com
