Monday, October 14, 2024

UPDATED: “Avenue Q” Creator Jeff Whitty Writes Scathing Screed About Gwyneth Paltrow and Other Collaborators of Flop Musical “Head over Heels”

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UPDATE April 15th: Jeff Whitty removed his Facebook post, and at his request I’ve removed it, too. But the substance of it — that he and the “Head Over Heels” team fell out grievously over that show — remains. So I’ll have more on that in the days to come. Certainly, something is very wrong with this story. So more to come. Stay tuned.

APRIL 14TH: Jeff Whitty is a seasoned Broadway pro. But on Monday night (Tuesday morning) Whitty let loose on Facebook against his collaborators on the ill fated musical, “Head Over Heels.” The show closed January 6, 2019 after 188 performances and 37 previews.

On Facebook, Whitty didn’t hold back as he savaged everyone involved with the show, which was a head scratcher, frankly, and very, very bad. It combined the music of the Go-Go’s with an Elizabethan period farce that was hard to follow. Gwyneth Paltrow and Donovan Leitch were among the producers when I announced the show, but seemed far removed from it when it opened.

Whitty won a Tony Award for writing “Avenue Q” in 2004. He also wrote the libretto for “Bring it on the Musical.” which earned him a Drama Desk nomination. But “Head Over Heels” was a disaster. And now Whitty is venting. All opinions or citations are his, by the way.

Roger Friedman
Roger Friedmanhttps://www.showbiz411.com
Roger Friedman began his Showbiz411 column in April 2009 after 10 years with Fox News, where he created the Fox411 column. His movie reviews are carried by Rotten Tomatoes, and he is a member of both the movie and TV branches of the Critics Choice Awards. His articles have appeared in dozens of publications over the years including New York Magazine, where he wrote the Intelligencer column in the mid 90s and covered the OJ Simpson trial, and Fox News (when it wasn't so crazy) where he covered Michael Jackson. He is also the writer and co-producer of "Only the Strong Survive," a selection of the Cannes, Sundance, and Telluride Film festivals, directed by DA Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus.

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