Maddie
Book by Shaun McKenna and Steven Dexter
Lyrics by Shaun McKenna
Music by Stephen Keeling
Based on "Marion's Wall" by Jack Finney
First produced by Kenny Wax at the Salisbury Playhouse to rave reviews in 1996, in a production directed by Martin Connor with Musical Supervision by Martin Lowe and arrangements by Caroline Humphris. The cast was led by Summer Rognlie, Mark McGann, Kevin Colson and Angela Richards.
Maddie then transferred to the West End, opening in September 1997 at the Lyric Theatre, Shaftesbury Avenue. Summer Rognlie and Kevin Colson reprised their earlier roles and were joined by Graham Bickley and Lynda Baron.
When Nick and Jan Cheyney move into a run-down apartment in San Francisco in 1977, they find a mysterious message scrawled in lipstick behind the wallpaper. The previous occupant was an exuberant actress named Maddie Marsh. Her former lover, Al Turner, now owns the house. Al tells them Maddie had a chance to star in a silent movie for Cecil B. De Mille but was killed on her way to start shooting.
Nick is fascinated by the long dead flapper and Jan wishes she could be like her. Her dream comes true. Before long, the ghost of Maddie appears to Nick - and then possesses Jan's body in the middle of an important social event. Nick falls in love with Maddie in his wife's body. When Maddie catches sight of a movie in colour and sound, she decides to have another go at becoming a star, using Jan's body to do it.
Romantic farce ensues when Maddie meets her former lover, Al, now an old man - and Nick's rapacious employer, the wealthy and influential Cordelia van Arc.
“ In McKenna’s lyrics as much as in the score, Sonheim rubs shoulders with Jerome Kern.”
“The show we’ve been waiting for... Terrific”
“ A classic rousing Broadway score... ”
“Music propels this well-carpentered fairy tale into another dimension... a magical zone.”
In May 2020, Shaun published a book about the eight year roller coaster creative journey that he, Stephen Keeling and Stephen Dexter embarked on when they decided to write Maddie.
The journey involved encounters with Stephen Sondheim, Cameron Mackintosh and other great theatre names of the 1990s.
The book is available in paperback from Amazon or in a Kindle edition.
The song 'Star' from the original London Cast Recording