Addison’s WaterTower Theatre to premiere musical by pair of Broadway veterans

“Goin’ Hollywood” makes its debut July 19. It’s the latest collaboration from David Krane and Stephen Cole.

David Krane and Stephen Cole are no strangers to Dallas. Cole wrote the Off-Broadway hit After the Fair, which later won five Dallas theater awards, including best new play or musical, after a run at Lyric Stage. And although both make their home in New York, Krane and Cole hadn’t met until they were commissioned by the Emir of Qatar to create Aspire, the first American musical to premiere in the Middle East. That led to another new musical, The Road to Qatar, which also had a Dallas production.

And now, the two have collaborated on Goin’ Hollywood, which will have its world premiere at Addison’s WaterTower Theatre and run July 19-30. In a recent forum at WaterTower, the two said they hope to take the show from Addison to a bigger regional theater and then to Broadway.

In an age when the streaming hit Outlander has elevated time travel to its own genre, Goin’ Hollywood fits right in. Lead character Alice Chandler, a writer in contemporary America, feels increasingly alienated by her own era. During a lunch with her best friend and writing partner Garson Stein, they discover that a restaurant resembling a dining car has the power to transport them to 1949 Hollywood, where they land in the golden age of movie musicals.

But they soon learn it’s not all it’s cracked up to be. The studio system is crumbling and the blacklist is threatening their closest allies. Which provides the backdrop to new songs by Krane and Cole.

At a time when regional theaters across the country are struggling, Shane Peterman, the producing artistic director at WaterTower, actually has happy news to report: “We have money in the bank, no debts and our audiences are enjoying our productions.”

Credit: Dallas Morning News