The Henry Krieger-Bill Russell musical Side Show, about the vaudeville-era conjoined twins Daisy and Violet Hilton, will follow up runs at the La Jolla Playhouse and the Kennedy Center with a Broadway revival at the St. James Theatre this fall. Performances begin October 28 prior to an official November 17 opening.
The original 1997 Broadway production starred Alice Ripley and Emily Skinner and garnered Tony Award nominations for Ripley and for Best Musical, Best Book of a Musical and Best Original Score. Erin Davie (Grey Gardens) and Emily Padgett (Rock of Ages) played the twins in the recent La Jolla and Kennedy Center productions directed by Bill Condon, and will reprise their roles on Broadway, with additional casting and the rest of the creative team yet to be announced.
Condon, also returning for the Broadway engagement, is making his Broadway directorial debut. His film direction credits include Gods and Monsters, Dreamgirls and both installments of The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn.
At the Kennedy Center, the choreography was by Anthony van Laast and musical direction by Sam Davis. David Rockwell did the scenic design and Paul Tazewell (On the Town, Bring in ‘Da Noise, Bring in ‘Da Funk) the costumes, with sound design by Kai Harada and lighting design by Jules Fisher and Peggy Eisenhauer.
The Hilton sisters of yore were sideshow entertainers (not unlike the more recent Hilton sisters Paris and Nicole). Born fused at the pelvis in 1908, Daisy and Violet shared circulation but no major organs. They spent their younger years essentially captive to their managers, but later emancipated themselves and hit the vaudeville circuit as "The Hilton Sisters' Revue." Along the way they performed alongside such luminaries as Charlie Chaplin and Bob Hope.
A few marriages and a lapse into obscurity later, they died at age 60. Several depictions of their life story have appeared on stage and screen since, including Leslie Zemeckis's 2012 documentary Bound by Flesh. Side Show, with music by Henry Krieger (Dream Girls) and lyrics by Bill Russell (Pageant, which had a brief Off-Broadway revival earlier this year), has probably been the most successful.
