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|productions= 2009 [[Off-Broadway theatre|Off-Broadway]]<br>2011 [[San Francisco Playhouse|San Francisco]]<br>2013 [[Edmonton Fringe Festival|Edmonton, Canada]]<br>2014 [[Chicago]]<br>2015 [[Charlotte, North Carolina|Charlotte]]
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|premiere_date=June 1, 2009}}
'''''Coraline''''' is a [[musical theatre|musical]]
''Coraline'' premiered off-Broadway in June 2009, four months after the [[Coraline (film)|film adaptation]]'s release.
== Original production ==
''Coraline'' was commissioned in 2004<ref>{{Cite web|last=NewMusicBox Staff|date=2004-07-02|title=Meet The Composer awards $200,000|url=https://nmbx.newmusicusa.org/Meet-The-Composer-awards-200000/|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2020-10-04|website=NewMusicBox|language=en}}</ref> by St. Ann Warehouse in association with Meet the Composer Commissioning Music/USA.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web|last=Hernandez|first=Ernio|date=1 June 2009|title=Merritt and Greenspan Musical Coraline Opens Off-Broadway June 1|url=http://www.playbill.com/article/merritt-and-greenspan-musical-coraline-opens-off-broadway-june-1-com-161341|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210124230917/https://www.playbill.com/article/merritt-and-greenspan-musical-coraline-opens-off-broadway-june-1-com-161341 |archive-date=2021-01-24 |access-date=2020-10-04|website=Playbill|language=en}}</ref> The musical approached completion in 2008,<ref>{{Cite web|last=Cromelin|first=Richard|date=2008-01-27|title=He's trying to weather L.A. 69 love songs to 50 musicals|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2008-jan-27-ca-merritt27-story.html|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2020-10-04|website=Los Angeles Times|language=en-US}}</ref> but was not premiered until the following year.
''Coraline'' began previews on May 8, 2009 at the [[Lucille Lortel Theatre]]. It premiered on June 1, 2009 and was originally scheduled to close on June 20. Due to popular demand, its run was extended first to July 5,<ref name=":6">{{Cite web|title=New Musical Coraline Extends a Week Before Opening at MCC|url=https://www.broadway.com/buzz/98559/new-musical-coraline-extends-a-week-before-opening-at-mcc/|access-date=2020-10-04|website=Broadway.com|language=en}}</ref> then July 7.<ref name=":3" /> ''Coraline'' was produced by [[MCC Theater]] in association with True Love Productions.<ref name=":7">{{Cite web|last=Hernandez|first=Ernio|date=23 Feb 2010|title=Original Off-Broadway Cast Album of Coraline Now Available|url=http://www.playbill.com/article/original-off-broadway-cast-album-of-coraline-now-available-com-166142|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2020-10-04|website=Playbill|language=en}}</ref> It was the first musical to be produced by MCC Theater.<ref name=":6" />
The musical is "wildly unconventional",<ref name=":3" /> according to world-premiere director [[Leigh Silverman]]. West-coast premiere director Bill English describes the music as "odd," with pieces ending in the middles of phrases.<ref>{{YouTube|id=GfqHIljwaBY|show=|title=Behind the Scenes of Coraline}}. Retrieved 2020-10-04.</ref> The only instruments used in the musical are [[piano]]s, both traditional and toy varieties. The musical also calls for two [[prepared piano]]s.<ref name=":4">{{Cite journal |last=Dean |first=Tanya |date=2013 |title="Piano Guts and Other Mothers: Staging Fantasy in David Greenspan and Stephin Merritt's Musical Adaptation of Neil Gaiman's "Coraline" |url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/24353202 |journal=Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts |volume= |issue= |pages=264–274 |jstor=24353202 |via=JSTOR}}</ref>
The original production's cast was similarly unconventional, with 55-year-old [[Jayne Houdyshell]] as nine-year-old Coraline and librettist [[David Greenspan]] as the Other Mother. The cast also featured Julian Fleisher as Cat, [[Francis Jue]] as Father and Miss Forcible, [[January LaVoy]] as Mother and Miss Spink, [[Elliot Villar|Elliot Vallar]] as Mr Bobo, and [[William Youmans]] as Other Father.<ref name=":3" />
Ghostlight Records released an original cast album in February 2010.<ref name=":7" />
=== Other productions of note ===
The West Coast premiere of ''Coraline'' played from November 16, 2010 to January 15, 2011 in [[San Francisco]], produced by The SF Playhouse.<ref name=":0">[http://sfplayhouse.org/sfph/coraline/ ''Coraline''] sfplayhouse.org</ref> The Midwest premiere played from August 8, 2014 to September 6, 2014 in [[Chicago]], produced by Black Button Eyes Productions.<ref name=":2">[http://www.coralinechicago.com/ ''Coraline''] coralinechicago.com</ref>
''Coraline'' also premiered internationally in Canada during the [[Edmonton International Fringe Festival|Edmonton Fringe Festival]], from August 15, 2013 to August 25, 2013. It was produced by Impossible Mongoose Productions.<ref name=":1">[http://impossiblemongoose.wordpress.com/shows/ "Shows"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140812033855/http://impossiblemongoose.wordpress.com/shows/|date=2014-08-12}}
impossiblemongoose.wordpress.com</ref>
==Casts==
Line 22 ⟶ 36:
|+
!Role
!2009 Off
[[MCC Theater]]<ref name=":3" />
!2011 West Coast
[[San Francisco Playhouse]]<ref name=":0" />
!Canadian Premiere, 2013
[[Edmonton International Fringe Festival|Edmonton Fringe]]<ref name=":1" />
!Chicago Premiere, 2014
City Lit Theater<ref name=":2" />
|-
|Coraline
|[[Jayne Houdyshell]]
|Maya Donato,
|Laena Anderson
|Sheridan Singleton
Line 51 ⟶ 63:
|Justin Kimrey
|-
|Miss Spink/Other Miss Spink
|[[January LaVoy]]
|Susi Damilano
Line 57 ⟶ 69:
|Caitlin Jackson
|-
|Miss Forcible/Other Miss Forcible
|[[Francis Jue]]
|Maureen McVerry
Line 70 ⟶ 82:
|-
|Cat
|
|Brian Yates Barber
|Graham Mothersill
Line 93 ⟶ 105:
|Kevin Bishop
|-
|Ensemble
|Julian Fleisher,
[[Francis Jue]],
[[January LaVoy]],
Elliot Vallar,
[[William Youmans]]
|Brian Yates Barber,
Suso Damilano,
Jackson Davis,
Maureen McVerry,
Brian Degan Scott
|Oscar Derkx,
Rebecca Merkley,
Darcy Robinson,
Adam Sanders
|Jeff Bouthiette,
Jennifer T. Grubb,
Caitlin Jackson,
Justin Kimrey
|}
==Musical numbers==
# Overture – Other Father; Mr. Bobo; Cat; Mother; Father;
# A New House – Coraline; Cat
# Am Miss Spink (And I Am Miss Forcible) – Mother; Father
# A Mouse Circus – Coraline; Mr. Bobo; Ensemble
# Mum and Dad – Coraline; Father; Mother
# At the Other End – Cat; Coraline
# Song of the Rats – Ensemble
# When We Were Young and Trod the Boards – Father; Mother
# Fluorescent Green Gloves – Coraline
# Welcome Home – Other Mother; Other Father; Ensemble
# A Lot of Noise – Ensemble
# Song of the Rats – Ensemble
# Theatre Is Fun – Father; Mother
# Stay with Us – Other Mother; Other Father; Ensemble
# The Ballad of The Wasps - Coraline
# O What a Lovely Trip – Father; Mother; Coraline
# Go to Sleep – Other Mother
# We Were Children Once – Ensemble
# When You're A Cat - Cat
# Song of the Rats – Ensemble
# Recollections – Other Father; Mr. Bobo; Father
# Whatever You Want – Mr. Bobo
# Song of the Rats – Ensemble
# The World Goes Flat – Ensemble
# I Saw a Show on Telly Once – Coraline
# Falling... Falling... – Other Mother; Ensemble
# One Long Fairytale – Other Mother; Cat; Father; Mother; Mr. Bobo; Other Father; Ensemble
==Critical response==
Many critics found the show lacked suspense and affect. [[Ben Brantley]] described the original off-Broadway production in ''[[The New York Times]]'' as "droll, dry, and very cerebral."<ref>{{Cite web|last=Brantley|first=Ben|date=2009-06-01|title=Better the Mother You Know than the Other One: THEATER REVIEW|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/02/theater/reviews/02cora.html|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150914032547/http://www.nytimes.com:80/2009/06/02/theater/reviews/02cora.html |archive-date=2015-09-14 |access-date=2020-10-04|website=The New York Times}}</ref> In subsequent runs, critics echoed such negative criticisms. Robert Hurwitt wrote in the ''[[San Francisco Chronicle]]'', "Greenspan's make-believe approach undercuts the tale's suspense."<ref>{{Cite web|last=Hurwitt|first=Robert|date=2010-11-22|title='Coraline' at SF Playhouse review|url=https://www.sfgate.com/performance/article/Coraline-at-SF-Playhouse-review-3245015.php|access-date=2020-10-04|website=SFGate|language=en-US}}</ref> [[Kerry Reid]] wrote in the ''[[Chicago Tribune]]'', "There needs to be a greater sense of clammy danger... as the shadows fall over the world... Without it, we never quite identify with Coraline's growing maturity."<ref>{{Cite web|last=Reid|first=Kerry|title=REVIEW: 'Coraline' by Black Button Eyes Productions ★★ 1/2|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/theater/ct-coraline-musical-review-story.html|access-date=2020-10-04|website=chicagotribune.com|date=19 August 2014 }}</ref>
Critics also found the quirky musical score and instrumentation too indistinct and unmemorable. Matthew Murray wrote in ''TalkingBroadway.com'' that the show lacks "musical necessity" and goes on to say, "It's not just that the songs give you nothing to take away, it's that they take in nothing to give you."<ref>{{Cite web|title=Talkin' Broadway Off-Broadway - Coraline - 06/01/09|url=https://www.talkinbroadway.com/page/ob/06_01_09.html|access-date=2020-10-04|website=www.talkinbroadway.com}}</ref> More generally, Toby Zinman wrote on ''BroadStreetReview.com'' that attendees may find "the songs were unmusical."<ref>{{Cite web|last=Zinman|first=Toby|title=Coraline' off-Broadway|url=https://www.broadstreetreview.com/theater/coraline_off_broadway|access-date=2020-10-04|website=www.broadstreetreview.com}}</ref>
While the show received generally negative-to-mixed reviews, critics remained supportive of its creative team. Noting the strength of Gaiman's novel, Greenspan's inventive theatrical work, and Merritt's quirky, esoteric musicianship, David Rooney wrote in ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'', "Whether or not the musical-theater crowd warms to this wildly unconventional piece, it succeeds fully in harnessing the essence of three distinctive talents."<ref>{{Cite web|last=Rooney|first=David|date=2009-06-01|title=Coraline|url=https://variety.com/2009/legit/reviews/coraline-2-1200507100/#!|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151206014602/http://variety.com:80/2009/legit/reviews/coraline-2-1200507100/ |archive-date=2015-12-06 |access-date=2020-10-04|website=Variety}}</ref> Additionally, Stephen Merritt received the Obie Award for Design/Music for ''Coraline'' in 2010.<ref name=":5">{{Cite web|title=10|url=https://www.obieawards.com/events/2010s/year-10/|access-date=2020-10-04|website=Obie Awards|language=en-US}}</ref>
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{Coraline}}
[[Category:Coraline|musical]]
[[Category:2009 musicals]]
[[Category:Musicals based on novels]]
[[Category:Off-Broadway musicals]]
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