Producers Marc Routh and Simone Genatt chipped into a conversation about their new show, World’s Greatest Lover, which features characters ranging from a conniving Casanova to an unrequited Romeo, from the clandestine Cyrano de Bergerac to the dangerous Marquis de Sade.
It’s the blending of those visions that has the potency to overcome the threat to love in our world
How did this brilliantly bizarre concept for World’s Greatest Lover come about?
Broadway International Group decided to commission a new musical that featured an all-male cast to satisfy the demand for a vehicle for former K-pop and boyband stars, and the pop/theatre team of Julien Salvia and Ludovic-Alexandre Vidal seemed like the perfect match. When they submitted the first draft, we were bowled over and immediately scheduled a reading to see if it was as good in person as it was on the page. They continued to refine the show through a presentation at 54 Below and then an extended workshop in New York, and it was clear that there was something special here.
The show is billed as wildly entertaining and genuinely heartfelt. How do you strike that balance between hilarious romantic chaos and sincere emotional moments?
Love is the central theme, and all the characters are wildly romantic. Because the audience already knows and loves our heroes, they are the perfect subjects for humour as stories and surprises unfold. The blend of comedy and romance is natural.
Each character represents a different vision of love – unrequited, dangerous, poetic, seductive. What do they reveal when they’re all forced to share the same stage (and maybe the same spotlight)?
Each of our lovers has their own unique point of view on love, and as the title implies, the show is a clash between the characters as to which of those points of view is the right one. It’s very aligned with the dilemma the world is facing now, as various perspectives conflict with each other, with each faction entrenched in their particular viewpoint. And over the course of the show, they learn that it’s the blending of those visions that has the potency to overcome the threat to love in our world.
You’ve assembled a powerhouse creative team, from Emmy-winner Joshua Bergasse to Eurovision songwriters Julien Salvia and Ludovic-Alexandre Vidal. How has that international flavour shaped the sound and style of the show?
Josh was our first call after receiving the original draft of the production and his commitment was strong and immediate. He’s the perfect collaborator to help bring these characters to life through a combination of his unique skills in direction and choreography. We have a long association with Josh that goes all the way back to the original productions of Swing! and Hairspray, as well as the revival of Smokey Joe’s Café. Julien and Ludo are new to our creative family, but we met and quickly bonded, and they embraced the commission wholeheartedly.
These characters are archetypes that have been reinvented by novelists, poets, screenwriters, playwrights and lyricists throughout history, so their universality offers a great opportunity – as filtered through the sensibilities of John, Julien and Ludo.
This is a brand-new musical making its debut at the Fringe. What made Edinburgh the right place to introduce World’s Greatest Lover to the world?
Broadway International Group has had the great fortune of introducing many productions to the world market through the Edinburgh Festival, including Cookin’, Reel to Real, China Goes Pop and many others. We love producing for the festival audience and the discipline of creating a successful production within the bounds of the festival constraints.
If each of the characters had to define ‘true love’ in one sentence, how wildly different would those definitions be – and who do you think actually gets it right?
Romeo, Cyrano, Casanova and the Marquis de Sade do indeed have views of love that are diametrically opposed, and when the show begins, each of them is absolutely certain that their view is the accurate one. But when a stranger intervenes, they are forced to examine other points of view and realise the value of their fellow comrades in the pursuit of love.
