ABOVE HELL’S KITCHEN

Do not think for a second that because Spott’s debut musical hasn’t been staged since 2010 that it can’t be staged again! Or that it can’t be made into a movie. After all, he wrote the first draft of his feature screenplay, Either Side Of Midnight, in 2001 and that didn’t get shot until 2019. Mr. Spottiswoode is a master of the long game.

Above Hell’s Kitchen is a gothic rock opera loosely based on Mozart’s Don Giovanni. Set in a therapist’s midtown Manhattan apartment it follows the story of a young musician trying desperately to balance the demands of love and career. Except that isn’t really the story at all.

Above Hell’s Kitchen debuted as a staged reading in 2009 at Joe’s Pub in New York’s Public Theater. In addition to Spottiswoode and his band of Enemies, the cast included Martha Redbone, Don DiLego, Meghan McGeary, Max Low, Kyra Climbingbear and Anthony Patellis as the narrator.

The following year the script was accepted for inclusion in the New York Musical Theatre Festival, then the top musical theatre festival in the world. Directed by Hayley Finn and starring Andrea Frierson in the role of Dr. Charity, the 2010 NYMF production played to sell-out crowds. It also garnered a Best Orchestration Award for Spottiswoode & His Enemies and for musical director, Riley McMahon.

Since then, Spottiswoode has written several adaptations - a London stage version (Between The Angel And The Old Kent Road) and two separate film incarnations.

You can hear some of the songs including performances from the staged reading HERE. Script available upon request.

Stay tuned for further developments…