The Scotsman’s Joyce McMillan talks to David Greig, artistic director at The Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh, about the making of the stage musical adaptation of the cult film Local Hero.
Source: Video: The making of Local Hero – the musical stage production – The Scotsman
It is one of the most eagerly awaited theatre productions of recent years but there will be one notable absentee at its world premiere.
Bill Forsyth, the writer and director of the film Local Hero, has said that he has been frozen out of a musical based on the film and will boycott the opening in Edinburgh this month.
Forsyth, who has spent the past three years collaborating on the show with the playwright David Greig, has been told that he should “cease to be actively involved” in the project.
A statement from the theatre said: “As Mark Knopfler developed a new score of 19 new songs, Bill Forsyth and David Greig worked closely together on several drafts of the script to ensure this transformation to the theatre retained the magic and essence of Bill’s film. “As such, we’re sad and surprised if he has felt in any way excluded from the creative process. “A world class creative team, director, designers and musicians have been assembled to create the show, all with Bill and Mark’s approval. “When a new stage show begins rehearsals, it is this team which forms and shapes it for the theatre. John Crowley, the director, and the whole team have always considered Bill’s voice to be central and integral. Without it, any telling of Local Hero would simply not be possible.”
It is revered as one of the all-time classic Scottish movie comedies – but now key elements of Local Hero are being changed for its adaptation into a new stage musical to ensure it becomes less “Trumpian. Continue reading
Few Scottish films have so perfectly captured the appeal of the simple life than Local Hero, the tale of an American oil executive captivated by the beauties of a remote fishing village.
Next month in Edinburgh, half a lifetime after he wrote and directed the original, Bill Forsyth’s film is being transformed into a stage musical, one of the most anticipated productions of the year.
The show is built around 21 new songs from Mark Knopfler, the Dire Straits co-founder, who wrote the score for the 1983 movie, and is directed by John Crowley, whose 2015 film Brooklyn was nominated for three Oscars. Forsyth worked on the script with David Greig, artistic director of the Edinburgh’s Royal Lyceum theatre. [ . . . ]
Read Full Story at THE TIMES: Local Hero gets set to hit open road | Scotland | The Times
Bill Forsyth, right, on the set of Local Hero in 1983 with Denis Lawson and Peter Riegert
The screenwriter Bill Forsyth is turning his film Local Hero into a musical, 35 years after its release.
The movie about an American oil tycoon’s attempt to buy a remote Scottish village starred Jenny Seagrove and Peter Capaldi. It is being adapted for the stage by Forsyth and David Greig, artistic director of the Royal Lyceum Theatre in Edinburgh. Marc Knopfler, founder of the band Dire Straits, will produce the music [ . . . ]
Continue at THE TIMES: Bill Forsyth’s Local Hero film adapted for stage musical | Scotland | The Times
