October Sky

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kport
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October Sky

Post by kport »

From the producers that brought Wicked, Billy Elliot and Bring It On to Broadway, the new musical will be staged Aug. 19-Oct. 11 and opening on Aug. 26.

Based on the film, as well as the book "Rocket Boys" by Homer H. Hickman, Jr., October Sky is written by Aaron Thielen, with music and lyrics by Michael Mahler. It follows a teenage boy living in a small, coal-mining town and his determination to not end up like the generations before him. With his friends, they build home-made rockets and release them, along with their dreams and aspirations, into the sky.
It will be directed by Rachel Rockwell, who directed the brilliant production of BETM at Drury Lane.
"This is a story set in a town that lives and dies by the coal mine, with real struggles and real triumphs,” Rockwell said in a press statement. “These boys were intrigued by something that most people in America had no experience with and somewhat feared – rockets going into space. We want to make audiences feel like they are part of this community as they experience this volatile time in small town America. It is a really inspirational story.”
(Replace 'rockets going into space' with 'ballet', and........)

This could be interesting!

http://www.playbill.com/news/article/oc ... ere-353339
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tankntonic
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Re: October Sky

Post by tankntonic »

It's actually written by Homer Hickam Jr, not Homer Hickman who is also an author.

All of Hickam's books make good reading, anyone who enjoys World War II fiction, as I do, should check out " The Keeper's Son" and "Torpedo Junction". They tell the story of the U.S. Coast Guard's battle against German U Boats off the outer banks of North Carolina.

One of my favorite writers.
Looking forward to more info on October Sky

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CJ-Rochester
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Re: October Sky

Post by CJ-Rochester »

This is interesting, because four years ago I started a thread (link below) based on rumors of a "Rocket Boys" musical that was being talked about for Broadway.

http://www.billyelliottheforum.me.uk/fo ... ocket+boys

The show never made it to Broadway, but was recently produced at Atlanta's Legacy Theatre.
http://www.rocketboysthemusical.com/
http://www.prweb.com/releases/rocketboy ... 612833.htm

The two shows have different writers and composers, but are based on the same book. It will be interesting to see which, if any, succeed.
Todd
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Re: October Sky

Post by Todd »

kport wrote:
"This is a story set in a town that lives and dies by the coal mine, with real struggles and real triumphs,” Rockwell said in a press statement. “These boys were intrigued by something that most people in America had no experience with and somewhat feared – rockets going into space. We want to make audiences feel like they are part of this community as they experience this volatile time in small town America. It is a really inspirational story.”
(Replace 'rockets going into space' with 'ballet', and........)
Funny, I've always thought "October Sky" and "Billy Elliot" did indeed have lots in common. Besides the obvious coal mining parallel, they both involve fathers not quite knowing how to approach/support their younger son, whom they have trouble identifying with. And both stories have a scene towards the end where the father and his fellow coal miners descend into the ground after an emotional scene as the son is about to leave town to head off to pursue his dreams. It will be interesting to see if the stage version of "October Sky" portrays the dad as a bit more sympathetic. The dad in the movie - played by Chris Cooper - was a very unlikable character and didn't quite reach the point of obvious support of his son like Jackie Elliot does.
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