The Concept

LITTLE MARY SUNSHINE turns the clock back for the audience, placing them in a world of beautiful heroines and dastardly villains, shining heroes and last-minute rescues

They will find themselves at a perfect point in time, an idealized vision of life as they secretly wish it could be
It is a show that will occupy a happy place in their hearts, confirming their belief in a world where good triumphs over evil
Something exquisitely beautiful such as Little Mary might just provide a successful remedy to the pervasive sense of cynicism that confronts them in their everyday lives
Children will enjoy the show as much as their parents, although for different reasons
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This new production of LITTLE MARY SUNSHINE will be clever, elegant, and exceptionally beautiful.

It will be brought to the Broadway stage as if it were an early film, providing an immediate frame of reference for the visual style of the piece and placing the audience in a world that until now has only existed in their imaginations…and their hearts
The physical design will be based on the Art Nouveau movement and works by artists of the early twentieth century—Maxfield Parrish, Louis Comfort Tiffany, Alphonse Mucha—all perfectly suited to the creation of a one-of-a-kind place, the “perfect point in time” in which Little Mary’s story can be told.

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LITTLE MARY SUNSHINE AS AN EARLY FILM…

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The cinematic conceit with which the production will begin—a movie screen that (at least at first) masks the set behind it—is intended to transport the audience to an era when film was an exciting new art form.

The overture, prologue, and opening scene will be filmed as a sepia-toned, old-fashioned movie that eventually transforms into brilliant, Technicolor “reality” (much in the style of The Wizard of Oz)
Through the use of the latest technologies, the characters will actually walk off the screen and become “alive”
Lateral movement of the set, framed by the proscenium, will enable the actors to “travel” throughout the landscape

Actors will be cast to evoke images of cinematic icons from the silent film era, with particular attention paid to the expressive quality of their faces and eyes.

Mary Pickford, America’s Sweetheart,
as Little Mary Sunshine
Douglas Fairbanks, an actor of
tremendous physical derring-do,
as Capt. “Big Jim” Warington

Mabel Normand and Harold Lloyd, a brilliant comedic couple, as Nancy Twinkle and Corp. Billy Jester

Marie Dressler and Adolphe Menjou, highly individual character actors, as Mme. Ernestine von Liebedich and Gen. Oscar Fairfax

A combination of well-known Broadway performers and television and film personalities in the cast will bring people to the theatre to see the show for the first time.

The Broadway talents, both proven and new, will provide a combination of beautiful singing and strong acting

Most important, these will be characters (and performers) whom the audience will care about and want to see again.

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