Tag Archives: H.G. Wells

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H.G. Wells on a roll: Time after Time becomes a musical

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H_G_Wells Another entry in my quixotic quest to keep you posted on SFfish stuff on the stage: hard on the heels of the stage version of The Time Machine I blogged about earlier comes the news that Time after Time, the movie in which H.G. Wells uses his time machine to pursue Jack the Ripper to the modern era, is being turned into a musical. (Via SyFy Portal.)

Although it’s still early going on the project, playwright and lyricist Stephen Cole says:

“We have done several readings and the show is ready for a full fledged production…We have a prominent director interested who’s chomping at the bit and a producer with money. We’re looking for a proper venue to try it out and work on it. Musicals are tough to get right and the more work you can do in front of a real audience the better.”

Why Time after Time and not The Time Machine itself? Because, says Cole:

“I met a director who was interested in a sci-fi musical, so I considered ‘The Time Machine’ and told him to watch ‘Time After Time’ for reference…Eventually I realized a musical with Morlocks would be a surefire flop and became more enamored with Meyer’s film. Then I got the rights.”

Personally, I think a chorus kick-line of Morlocks would be boffo box office, but that’s just me.

(Image: Wikimedia Commons.)

[tags]H.G. Wells, musicals, theatre, science fiction[/tags]

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A stage version of The Time Machine

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As the resident person-of-theatre here among the Futurismic bloggers, it behooves me to draw to your attention the first-ever stage version of H.G. Wells’s The Time Machine, which opened at the Women’s Club of Hollywood today for the first of 13 performances. (Via SF Signal.)

The novel has previously been adapted into two films, at least one television movie, and a number of comic books. It seems to be a real labor of love for Julian Bane, who is the producer, the lead actor, and the person who built the title prop and the sets. He also had a hand in the script with writer/director Phil Abatecola.

From Bane’s bio, elements of which will resonate with certain of us:

Born in Curitiba, Brazil in 1967, Julian Bane arrived in the United States at the age of 11. His love for the arts started at an early age: first with comics and drawing superheroes for his school paper to shooting Star Wars action figures and Styrofoam planets with a Super 8 camera, all the while building miniature sets and props. As a young man, Bane admired, leading characters in shows such as DOCTOR WHO and Star Trek. These characters later influenced Bane to become an actor.

“Their impact on my young mind was strong,” says Bane. “The DOCTOR and Captain Kirk were some of the best characters ever created.”

I’d love to know if it’s any good, so if a Futurismic reader happens to take it in…

(I’d also love to know why Bane put DOCTOR WHO in all capitals in his bio, but you can’t have everything.)

[tags]H.G. Wells,time machine,plays, theatre[/tags]