Phoenix Festival Playbill 2025 (1) - Flipbook - Page 51
PLAYWRIGHT’S NOTE
Dr. Uncanny Presents: Moreau '96 is a musical theater adaptation of the 2014
documentary Lost Soul: The Doomed Journey of Richard Stanley’s Island of Dr.
Moreau which was about the making of the 1996 New Line Cinema movie called
The Island of Dr. Moreau which was a 昀椀lm adaptation of the 1896 HG Wells novel
The Island of Dr. Moreau.
So it’s a musical—-> about a documentary—-> about a movie—-> about a book.
And it’s been percolating for a while.
In 2014, when Reid and I 昀椀rst watched the documentary Lost Soul, directed by David
Gregory and produced by Severin Films, we quickly agreed: “This must be put on
stage.” In 2017, Reid and I premiered CasablancaBox, which was a breakdown of
Casablanca arguably, the greatest movie ever made. During that time, Dr. Moreau and
Lost Soul kept 昀氀oating back to us and we wondered: What if we did that same kind of
breakdown for the worst movie ever made? In 2019, Reid and I premiered BrandoCapote, our Noh theater staging of an infamous 1957 New Yorker magazine interview
by Truman Capote of Marlon Brando. In BrandoCapote, Reid designed projected
moments from Brando’s most horrendous, bizarre and seemingly totally improvised
performance in New Line’s The Island of Dr. Moreau. We quoted it constantly, we
couldn’t get enough of it. We knew we had to, one day, make this. In 2025, through
luck, various internet connections and probably the spirit world, we were able to pitch
our musical idea directly to David Gregory, the director of Lost Soul and he gave us
his blessing.
So this is our 昀椀rst stab at it and you’re the 昀椀rst audience to see this. It’s very much still
a work-in-progress, as musicals take quite some time.
But you are in good hands: There are no two bigger horror movie lovers than Reid
Farrington and David Van Tieghem. At least none I’ve encountered. I’ve done my very
best to keep up. But more than that, Moreau ‘96 is the ultimate artistic cautionary tale.
It’s the classic American tale of the lone artist in a losing battle against fame, money,
ego, capitalism and men in power.
Oh, and every single thing in this musical really happened.
Thank you to: Reid, David, Abe, Kevin, Zoe, Alissa and Sara. Also thanks to David
Gregory and Brett Green who are trusting us with their awesome documentary. And
of course to Elise Stone and Craig Smith from Phoenix Theater Ensemble who are
unhinged enough to continue to invite me back to Nyack. Very grateful.
