At #21 on our countdown, we travel to beautiful Venice, Italy in the year 1960. There, we meet a soon-to-be 40 Italian film director at a crossroads as he tries to balance his professionalism and personal life while having an affair with multiple women all at once. Not just one, two, three, four, five, (nope not SIX), nor even, or eight…. But NINE!!! Based on Federico Fellini’s semi-autobiographical film 8 ½, the musical features an original score by Maury Yeston and a book by Arthur Kopit.

From the 2003 CBS telecast, Award winning screen and stage star John Stamos as “Gudio”, Tony nominee Mary Stuart Masterson as “Luisa”, Sara Gettelfinger as “Carla”, and the late Tony nominee Rebecca Luker as “Claudia” from the recent Broadway revival having a little R&R in New York’s famed Central Park. Here they are singing ONLY WITH YOU.

NINE was first conceived as a musical by Maury Yeton in 1973. The composer was a huge fan of the original Italian film 8 ½. When he first saw it as a teenager, he was so moved by the story’s theme. Ironically with Federico Fellini’s direction, he wanted the film to be in recognition of his prior body of work, which included six full-length films, two short films, and one film that he co-directed. With Yeston renaming this musical adaptation as NINE, the title itself added another half-credit to Fellini’s output. It was also like adding one more number. The show would go on to be developed through early reading and workshop labs in 1982 and held in the former rooftop supper club theater above Broadway’s dark and closed (at the time) New Amsterdam Theatre. It went through various changes being mainly Male and Females together. Eventually, the show would be mainly all females plus the musical’s leading man.

NINE officially debuted on Broadway a few months later 1982 at the 46th Street Theatre (now the Richard Rodgers Theatre) running for 19 previews and 729 regular performances. Under the direction of the great Tommy Tune and choreography by Thomie Walsh, the cast was led by….

Raúl Juliá (later Sergio Franchi & Bert Convy) as “Guido Contini”,

Karen Akers (later Maureen McGovern & Eileen Barnett) as “Luisa”,

Tony winner Liliane Montevecchi (later Tony winner Priscilla Lopez) as “Liliane”,

Kathi Moss as “La Saraghina”,

Anita Morris (later Wanda Richert) as “Carla”,

Shelly Burch (later Barbara Stock) as “Claudia”,

Tania Elg as “Gudio’s Mother”,

and more.

The original production was well received earning top honors. It was nominated for 12 Tony Awards winning 5 including BEST MUSICAL. It also was nominated for 10 Drama Desk Awards winning 9 including OUTSTANDING MUSICAL.

NINE would go on to launch a National Tour across North America plus productions in London’s West End (TWICE), in Australia, Sweden, Germany, and around the world.

The most recent Broadway revival of NINE happened in 2003. produced by Roundabout Theatre Company. This revival was based on one of the productions that did well Internationally in London’s West End back in 1996 at the Donmar Warehouse in London. It ran at Broadway’s Eugene O’Neill Theatre for 23 previews and 283 regular performances. Under the direction of David Leveaux and choreographed by Jonathan Butterell, the cast was led by…

Stage and screen star Antonio Banderas (later John Stamos) as “Guido Contini”,

Tony nominee Mary Stuart Masterson as “Luisa”,

Tony winning legend Chita Rivera (later the late Tony nominated legend Eartha Kitt) as “Liliane”,

Tony winner Jane Krakowski (later Sara Gettelfinger) as “Carla”,

Tony winner Laura Benanti (later Rebecca Luker) as “Claudia”,

Myra Lucretia Taylor as “La Saraghina”,

and

Tony nominee Mary-beth Peil (later the late Marni Nixon) as “Guido’s Mother”.

This 2003 revival was nominated for 8 Tony Awards that year winning 2 consisting of BEST REVIVAL OF A MUSICAL and BEST FEATURED ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL (for Jane Krakowski, who won her first Tony that night). It also got 6 Drama Desk Awards that year winning 3 including OUTSTANDING REVIVAL. Plus, Antonio Banderas and Mary Stuart Matterson were the recipients of the Theatre World Awards for their performances.

Along with its success on stage, NINE was also a smash hit on the big screen. The film version was released in 2009 from Miramax films from the same Oscar winning team of the film version of Chicago. It stayed true to all the great moments from the stage production plus Maury Yeston wrote some new songs for it. Under the direction and choreography by Rob Marshall, the cast included….

Daniel Day-Lewis as “Guido Contini”,

Marion Cotillard as “Luisa”,

Penélope Cruz as “Carla”,

Nicole Kidman as “Claudia”,

Dame Judi Dench as “Liliane”,

Fergie as “La Saraghina”,

and

Sophia Loren as “Guido’s Mother”.

Reviews for the film were mixed but the critics praised the Ensemble cast. It was nominated for several Awards including 4 Academy Awards including BEST ORIGINAL SCORE (for the newly written song TAKE IT ALL), 5 Golden Globes including BEST MOTION PICTURE – MUSICAL OR COMEDY.

Today, NINE continues to be performed mainly in regional theaters, colleges, and around the world.

How intimate was that on how to celebrate Thanksgiving?!!!

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