The King's Speech Is Coming To Broadway

Colin Firth in the film version

The King's Speech, the heartwarming (and very, very British tale) of King George VI (played by Colin Firth) learning to overcome his stutter, which picked up the Best Picture Oscar last year, is coming to the Great White Way. Will there be song and dance?

Sadly, no. As it turns out, screenwriter David Seidler, who also won an Oscar, wrote the story as a screenplay after he wrote it as a play. Producer Michael Alden says the play will be "less of an adaptation and more of an alternative presentation," and added that the play will "delve a bit more into some of the political backdrop of the time."

The play, directed by Adrian Noble (Chitty Chitty Bang Bang), will have a London-based run during the first half of 2012, and is scheduled to arrive here next fall. No cast has been announced yet, though Alden said that none of the actors from the film are slated to appear, which leaves us free to speculate: Mark Rylance? Donald Glover? James Franco? HARVEY FIERSTEIN?! The possibilities are endless!

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By Jamie Feldmar in Arts & Entertainment on August 9, 2011 3:44 PM

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MelCooley

I loved THE KING'S SPEECH but wish they would not take it Broadway. Some things should be left alone. Margaret Hamilton refused to reprise her phenomenally successful role as The Wicked Witch because she said everything was done right the first time. I have read many articles about THE KING's SPEECH on the website of the Stuttering Foundation (www.stutteringhelp.org), and this site also has many free resources. One brochure is "Special Education Law and Children Who Stutter" that explains how every child in America has the right to FREE speech therapy, as has been part of federal law for forty years. The free therapy is for ALL types of speech problems.