Pulp Fiction: The Musical -- Pitch/Call for Investors by Lauren

February 28, 2006 9:33 PM Permalink

The suave, sexy Vincent Vega. The stoic, philosophical Jules Winnfield. The manipulative Marsellus Wallace. The mysterious Esmeralda Villalobos. And who can forget Butch Coolidge and his daddy's watch?

After seeing Pulp Fiction: The Musical?

Nobody.

This landmark production, re-worked for the stage by renowned writer/director/producer Quentin Tarantino, will mark the first Broadway venture for executive producer Lauren Alyce.

"This is really something new. Not only for me, but for Broadway; for theatre as a whole. I don't think anything like this has ever been done before," says Lauren, addressing the press at an early conference and investor interest meeting. "We've got some of the top people in the industry all lined up to work on this thing. It's going to be amazing."

Lauren had this to say when asked to elaborate: "Well, we managed to get most of the original cast, for one thing. Uma, Bruce Willis, Travolta, and Sam Jackson are all signed on. We also have an amazing choreographer attached to the project, and he's getting the cast really excited. Really excited. There's fight choreography, of course, lots of fun orchestrated violence and pyrotechnics. But the real core of this show -- the heart of the show -- has to be the ballet."

"There's this scene -- you probably remember it from the movie -- where Vincent and Mia are having dinner together at a nifty little theme restaurant called JackRabbit Slim's. Mia orders a five dollar milkshake, does some blow, and then talks Vincent into entering a dance contest with her. It's a wonderful dance sequence. And what we've done for the musical is... we've taken that scene and taken it a step further."

"Yes," chimes in an obviously excited Dougal Freeworth, the project's choreographer. "So far, we're only in workshops, but it already looks amazing. We have these six extremely talented company dancers that just kind of fill in the background. But they do so much more than just fill in the background, you know? They really give PFTM something that the film was lacking, you know? A kind of physical artistry, which may have kind of been there in the movie, but not to this extent, right? This is art, you know?"

Although the project is still in its developmental stages -- the producer is, in fact, still making additional pitches to prospective investors -- some have questioned whether Tarantino's film provides appropriate subject matter for the Great White Way. On the other hand, some worry that a musical version of Pulp Fiction may somehow compromise the film's theme by attempting to tone down the violence and profanity in order to attract a family crowd.

"We are trying to make this something that you can bring the kids to, yes," admits Lauren, "But we aren't cutting the violence out. We're just making the violence more artistic. It's going to be kind of like that scene in Oklahoma! that's really super violent, but it's OK(L-A-H-O-M-A!) because it's a dance. It's art. In many ways, I think that fight choreography really is the modern equivalent of ballet. And vice versa."

As for the sex, drugs, and rock and roll?

"We kind of have to leave that stuff in for the story to make sense. Mia's overdose scene is there, and we're in the process of adapting it into a musical number. We're thinking maybe it's a good candidate to be our featured ballad for the first act, and it might possibly get some airplay if we make it work as a top-40 crossover. That part where Vincent jams the syringe of adrenaline into her heart is just begging to be a musical climax. One of the high points of the show, if you'll excuse my pun."

When asked about what's known as "The Gimp Scene," Lauren smiled. "Ah, yes. The Gimp. The Gimp is in the musical, but he's a bit different. He's not really so much a perverse masochist as a confused soul who hasn't really had any friends for years. There's this great buddy number in the musical where Marsellus, The Gimp, and Butch get to know each other -- and themselves. It's really a very touching moment."

The violence, the blood, the sex, and the drugs -- they're all still there. "But," says Lauren, "We did cut back on the swearing a bit. For example, I think that in the movie it says **censored** about 257 times, but in the musical they only say **censored** 225 times. And about 100 of those **censored**s are in songs, so they don't really count. And they're only in, like, 1/3 of the songs anyhow. There are 32 songs so far, so really, comparatively, there isn't much swearing. Bring your kids, folks! And we'd love to have a family-friendly investor or two," she adds with a wink.

When asked about the current investor situation, Lauren reaches for a pie chart. "We've got about 40% of what we need in order to open the show in time for the theatre season. We need about $30 million more -- which is why we're here today. We want to give investors an idea of what we're doing, and give them a chance to be a part of this amazing show. The bottom line is this: this show is going to be good. Like five-dollar-milkshake good. Only better. Like five-dollar-milkshake-with-a-Tony-sticking-out-of-it good. You want to get in on this one."

By: Lauren | Challenge 01 | February 28, 2006

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