If you want to get your Roaring ‘20s art-deco groove on as a flapper or a zoot-suited gangster, you might want to take in “Bullets Over Broadway” when it comes to town Oct. 27-Nov. 1 at the Academy of Music.
The musical, based on the 1994 Woody Allen film of the same name and featuring choreographer and Tony Award-winner Susan Stroman, follows the misadventures of a playwright in the late 1920s who turns to a wealthy gangster to pay for his new show.
Out actor Bradley Allan Zarr plays the leading man as the gangsters are trying to get off the ground.
“I play Warner Purcell and he’s just a hoot and a half,” Zarr said. “He’s a guy who has a compulsive eating disorder. He gets very anxious before opening night and he eats. I have several fat suits for the show and I just keep getting bigger and bigger. The part is written so well. I can just be zany and out there and have a good time.”
Aside from his principal role in the production, Zarr also works behind the scenes as the dance captain.
“It’s my job to keep the show up to the high standard that Susan Stroman sets for all of her productions,” Zarr said. “Susan Stroman’s choreography is extremely specific and it’s deeply rooted in the time period [in which] it is set. It takes a lot of upkeep to ensure that all the dancers are staying true to the original choreography and not veering out of it. It’s also my responsibility to make sure that the understudies and the swings are ready to go on at any moment. I run the understudy rehearsal and make sure that they are prepared, because in theater and live entertainment anything can happen at any moment. Being dance captain has been a lifelong dream of mine since I started dancing. It’s a dream come true, especially with Susan Stroman because I’ve been a fan of her choreography for so long, ever since I saw ‘The Producers’ on Broadway. It is such an honor to do this production on the road.”
Zarr said part of the production’s challenge is balancing the tight choreography with the ebb and flow of the show’s humor.
“Susan Stroman has a rule in her direction that you never move on a joke,” Zarr said. “The movement that surrounds comedy is very specific. They way that she directed this production is extremely specific and small; every little movement counts, especially when you are delivering a punchline. Every single person on that stage has to be at the right place at the right time, not just the person delivering the joke. That is definitely a challenge.”
Zarr said the show is attracting fans of the original film as well people who heard about the buzz the musical created on its brief stint on Broadway.
“Woody Allen wrote the script for the musical and it’s basically a direct transfer from the movie, with some additions and changes to make segues smoother into songs,” he said. “There’s still the great one-liners in there and it’s been translated to the stage in a broader fashion so that jokes translate a little better on stage than they did in the movies. So it’s the exact same story line with these amazing original 1920s songs added into it. The movie is a classic and there are definitely fans of the movie and Woody Allen fans as well. I think a lot of people don’t know that show. It wasn’t a massive hit when it was on Broadway. It only ran a short time. So I think for the most part, people are curious about what it is and how it translates from the movie to a musical. We have beautiful showgirls and amazing tap-dancing gangsters and I think that that helps a lot. It’s a wonderful time period. The costumes and the sets are beautiful. People see the pictures and the commercials and it sparks their curiosity.”
“Bullets Over Broadway” comes to Philadelphia Oct. 27-Nov. 1 at Kimmel’s Academy of Music, 250 S. Broad St. For more information or tickets, call 215-790-5800 or visit www.bulletsoverbroadwayontour.com.