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![Hannah Cruz and Michael Urie in THE DA VINCI CODE at Ogunquit Playhouse (2). Photo By Gary Ng](https://www.theatermania.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2023/08/Hannah-Cruz-and-Michael-Urie-in-THE-DA-VINCI-CODE-at-Ogunquit-Playhouse-2.-Photo-By-Gary-Ng.jpg?w=640)
(© Gary Ng)
The stage adaptation of The Da Vinci Code formally opens tomorrow evening at Maine’s Ogunquit Playhouse. This marks the American premiere of the play (tailored by Rachel Wagstaff and Duncan Abel), which debuted final 12 months within the UK.
With ticket costs increased than ever and industrial theater more and more reliant on brand recognition to promote tickets, the arrival of a title as well-known as The Da Vinci Code prompts one apparent query: Is it going to Broadway?
“Completely,” answered Dan Brown throughout a latest interview, exuding the arrogance of an writer who has bought hundreds of thousands of books worldwide (Brown demurred after I requested him precisely what number of million, however in response to Ogunquit Playhouse, gross sales for The Da Vinci Code alone exceed 100 million). If Harry Potter and The Pocket book could make it to Broadway, so can The Da Vinci Code.
Story of the Week will think about the bestselling novel and its prospects for the stage (I just lately spoke with Brown and the present’s stars, Michael Urie and Hannah Cruz, in an interview that was carried out in accordance with present SAG-AFTRA tips). However simply in case you’ve managed to keep away from getting into a bookstore for the final 20 years…
What’s The Da Vinci Code?
The second novel in Dan Brown’s Robert Langdon collection, The Da Vinci Code follows the Harvard symbologist and French cryptologist Sophie Neveu as they try to uncover a 2,000-year-old secret stored by murdered Louvre curator Jacques Saunière, who was additionally the chief of an historical secret society. Pursued by brokers of Opus Dei and the French police (who view Langdon as the first suspect within the homicide), they comply with a collection of clues left by Saunière, all resulting in a revelation that has the potential to upend the Christian world.
Specified by 105 digestible chapters, The Da Vinci Code blends the hallmarks of an action-adventure thriller with an avalanche of riddles and phrase video games positive to thrill any crossword aficionado. Lots of the scenes happen in transit, which presumably explains the novel’s place as a staple of airport bookstores. It’s a kind of books that conjures film scenes contained in the reader’s head, which is why it so naturally transitioned right into a characteristic movie starring Tom Hanks and Audrey Tautou in 2006, simply three years after the publication of the e-book (worldwide field workplace income for the movie is estimated at $760 million).
The property is an unqualified success on web page and display screen — kinds that permit us to immediately leap throughout oceans, showing within the Louvre in a single scene, the cabin of a transatlantic jet within the subsequent. The stage is extra bodily restricted (though intelligent administrators discover options). But it surely nonetheless deserves the query:
![Hannah Cruz and Michael Urie in THE DA VINCI CODE at Ogunquit Playhouse. Photo By Gary Ng](https://www.theatermania.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2023/08/Hannah-Cruz-and-Michael-Urie-in-THE-DA-VINCI-CODE-at-Ogunquit-Playhouse.-Photo-By-Gary-Ng.jpg?w=640)
(© Gary Ng)
Why flip The Da Vinci Code right into a play?
“You learn a e-book alone,” stated Michael Urie, who performs Langdon onstage. “Going to the theater, you’re sharing house with folks and also you’re going to stroll out speaking. And there are such a lot of issues to debate in The Da Vinci Code.”
Hannah Cruz, who performs Neveu, concurred, noting the problem of making a dramatic thriller with out the advantage of post-production. “Even when you understand the story, the fast-paced nature of the play is such an attention-grabbing factor to observe dwell. And as an actor, it’s very enjoyable to carry out.”
Those that caught the Broadway run of Grey House know that there are stage actors who’re actually good at making audiences bounce of their seats, however few new performs name upon that talent set. “We don’t get requested to do it very a lot,” stated Urie. “It’s a must to be a lot cleverer onstage about the way you scare somebody or maintain suspense.”
The Da Vinci Code is a well known story at this level, however the visceral aid of being within the room with Robert and Sophie as they evade seize, or their shared euphoria after they crack the code, has the potential to be a completely new sensation for audiences. That is what the creatives are banking on.
Who’s engaged on The Da Vinci Code?
The story has been tailored for the stage by Rachel Wagstaff and Duncan Abel, with Brown observing from a distance however usually taking a hands-off method.
“I realized from being a spectator on my motion pictures that it is a talent set you permit to the professionals,” he stated. “I learn the scripts alongside the way in which and was massively impressed with how nicely they compressed and distilled. It’s received nice tempo.”
Translating that pacing to the stage is the job of director Leigh Toney, whose work is predicated on the unique UK staging by Luke Sheppard (& Juliet). Tom Jackson Greaves is the motion director, an important place that may actually compensate for the dearth of a digital camera and enhancing instruments.
Becoming a member of Urie and Cruz onstage is Charles Shaughnessy as Sir Leigh Teabing, the eccentric British aristocrat and Holy Grail obsessive. Shaughnessy launched into a distinctly sillier grail quest when he performed King Arthur in Ogunquit’s 2021 manufacturing of Spamalot, however audiences are likeliest to know him as Maxwell Sheffield from The Nanny. One wonders if The Da Vinci Code is a mission the fictional Broadway producer (and archrival to Andrew Lloyd Webber) would tackle.
![Hannah Cruz, Michael Urie, and Charles Shaughnessy in The Da Vinci Code at Ogunquit Playhouse. Photo by Gary Ng](https://www.theatermania.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2023/08/Hannah-Cruz-Michael-Urie-and-Charles-Shaughnessy-in-The-Da-Vinci-Code-at-Ogunquit-Playhouse.-Photo-by-Gary-Ng.jpg?w=640)
(© Gary Ng)
When will we see it on Broadway?
Whereas Brown appears assured that The Da Vinci Code will finally make it to Broadway, no agency timeline has been introduced. A lot will depend upon the viewers and important response at Ogunquit, which can assist decide a path ahead for this play.
I think that audiences might be drawn to The Da Vinci Code for a similar causes the e-book turned a bestseller 20 years in the past: It’s unique but accessible, and it attracts you deeper into its thriller with each action-packed scene. It additionally indulges our attraction to conspiracy theories, a darkish American pastime that reveals no signal of waning within the age of QAnon and presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
“Individuals need to know somebody is driving the bus,” defined Brown after I requested him about this enduring enchantment. “Individuals hate the notion that issues are random. And when unhealthy issues occur, it’s way more comforting to consider that anyone is behind it than it’s simply unhealthy luck.”
So if we don’t truly see The Da Vinci Code on Broadway within the subsequent 5 years, you understand whom responsible…
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