I SAW “A Tale of Two Cities” on Tuesday night. You know, the big new production at the  Al Hirschfeld Theater. The one that doesn’t open until Sept. 18. The one with James Barbour as Sydney Carton, Dickens’s dissolute, loveless, sexy young lawyer who does a far, far better thing than he has done before, right in the middle of the French Revolution.
 

Set designer Tony Walton has worked on everything from the plays of John Guare and Anton Chekhov to the musicals of Stephen Schwartz and Stephen Sondheim -- not to mention such iconic films as Murder on the Orient Expressand All That Jazz -- amassing shelves of awards in the process. Now the self-described "ancient geezer" is back on Broadway as designer of the musical version of Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre. Recently, Walton took a break from working on this massive show -- which consists of nearly 50 scene changes -- to sit down and discuss the project.

You've heard of the power of positive thinking, and the idea that if you visualize something, you can make it happen? Jill Santoriello is living proof of that—even if it took 21 years to make her Broadway dreams come true. Santoriello is the composer, lyricist and book writer of A Tale of Two Cities, now in previews at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre after a long and winding road indeed.

Spamalot star Drew Lachey will host Broadway on Broadway 2008, the annual free outdoor concert to be held in Times Square on September 14. The show will begin at 11:30AM and feature appearances and performances by stars from upcoming productions such as A Tale of Two Cities, Billy Elliot and 13, as well as Avenue Q, Chicago, The Little Mermaid, Grease, Gypsy, Hairspray, In The Heights, Jersey Boys, The Lion King, Legally Blonde, Mamma Mia!, Mary Poppins, The Phantom of the Opera, Spamalot, Spring Awakening, [title of show], Wicked and Young Frankenstein.
 

The problem with writing about Charles Dickens, the famed mind behind A Tale of Two Cities, is that it always reads like you're back in high school, poring over pages of notes dictated by a tedious English teacher. Which is a shame, given the juicy gossip and usable theater history surrounding the back story of Tale, now a sweeping Broadway musical of appropriately epic proportions. With that in mind, we've eliminated the endless list of dates, the poorly illustrated timelines and the pages of character analysis to give you exactly the information you need to really appreciate (and regale your friends with) on A Tale of Two Cities' starry opening night September 18.

 Set against the epic backdrop of the French Revolution and based on the classic Dickens novel,A Tale of Two Cities is a musical about injustice, vengeance and the redemptive power of love. When Dr. Manette is released from the French Bastille after 17 years, he must be resurrected from the brink of madness by his daughter, Lucie. In England they meet two very different men: the exiled French aristocrat, Charles Darnay, whom Lucie marries, and the drunken cynic, Sydney Carton. Soon family secrets and political intrigue combine to draw Lucie and her family back to Paris. At the height of the Reign of Terror, the musical finds an unlikely hero in Sydney Carton. A Tale of Two Cities comes to Broadway after making its debut last season at Florida's Asolo Repertory Theatre, where it had a hugely successful sold-out run.

The novels of Charles Dickens have been translated to some of the most successful theatrical productions of all time from the musical Oliver to the award-winning drama The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby. The latest page-to-stage adaptation is Jill Santoriello's musical A Tale of Two Cities, which has arrived at Broadway's Al Hirschfeld Theatre after a successful run earlier this year at Sarasota's Asolo Theatre. At a recent press event, TheaterMania spoke with five of the show's stars, James Barbour, Aaron Lazar, Gregg Edelman, Brandi Burkhardt, and Natalie Toro, and got a sneak preview of the rousing score.

It's time for all “A TALE OF TWO CITIES” lovers to vote for their favorites for this year’s CURTAIN CALL AWARDS!

To vote, visit the following URL:  http://www.heraldtribune.com/curtaincall
 
Then simply pick "Best Musical, Professional" category for "A Tale of Two Cities," highlight your choice and then click the "VOTE" button.
 
Once you vote in a category, an updated pie chart will appear on the page for that category.
 
Vote in any or all categories.
 

With the upcoming musical adaptation of Charles Dickens' timeless "A Tale Of Two Cities," there is an opportunity to consider why Dickens' novels have been such successful source material for the stage in general, and Broadway in particular. According to the Internet Broadway Database, no less than 45 productions on Broadway have sprung from Dickens writings, and that list doesn't include works like "Dot" that predate the database itself. As Alexander Woollcott wrote in The New York Times in 1922 of Charles Dickens, "his love of the theatre and his instinct for it possessed him when he was no older than the little David toiling away miserably in that London factory long ago." Perhaps it is Dickens' instinctive love for the theatre that has made his novels compelling material for the stage.
 

 "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times..." This famous opening line comes from the classic Charles Dickens' novel A Tale of Two Cities, which will begin previews this August on Broadway as an epic musical, set against the theatrical sweep of the French Revolution. Dickens' celebrated novel was first published in 31 weekly installments, beginning in 1859.

 Meet A Tale of Two Cities scenic designer Tony Walton.

 Nick Wyman starred as Monsieur Firmin in the Original Broadway Cast of The Phantom of the Opera. His other Broadway credits include Les Miserables, Sly Fox, My Fair Lady, the Magic Show and On the Twentieth Century. In A Tale of TwoCities he stars as John Barsad. As the fourth interview in an ongoing series of BWW TV features with the cast of the new Broadway bound musical, he reveals his long history with the production, the excitement of developing an original character over time and how the show continues to inspire.

A Tale of Two Cities, a new musical to quicken the hearts of fans of sprawling romantic historical epics — the kind of show where characters in the shadows sing about the light of tomorrow — begins its Broadway life Aug. 19 at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre.

James Barbour, the baritone who starred in Broadway's Assassins, Beauty and the Beast, Carousel and Jane Eyre, plays selfless, conflicted hero Sydney Carton in composer-lyricist-librettist Jill Santoriello's take on the French Revolution-set novel by Charles Dickens.
 

Charles Dickens' classic tale comes to life on stage in the new musical A Tale of Two Cities, which begins previews on Broadway Aug. 19.

Warren Carlyle directs and choreographs the production at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre. Jill Santoriello has penned music, lyrics and book for the French Revolution-set musical.

Lighting legend Richard Pilbrow was kind enough to invite me to the first dress tech for A Tale of Two Cities, the new musical opening next month on Broadway. His hook was he wanted me to see “the future of lighting control.” How could I say no to that?

Set against the epic backdrop of the French Revolution and based on the classic Dickens novel, A Tale of Two Cities is a musical about injustice, vengeance and the redemptive power of love. As the ongoing series of BWW TV features with the cast of the new Broadway bound musical continues, the actors discuss the power and passion of the thrilling score and the epic tale that inspired it. VIDEO