Produced by OD Company — world premiere set for May 2027 at BAM Harvey Theater in New York
An 'erotic musical fantasy' spanning New York, India and myth
Julie Taymor, the director who brought the savanna to the Broadway stage with "The Lion King," is teaming up with Shin Chun-su, the OD Company chief behind a string of Korean musical hits including "Dracula" and "Man of La Mancha." For Shin, the collaboration marks another push into the American market, following the Broadway success of "The Great Gatsby."
OD Company announced Monday that it will produce "The Grand Delusion," a new musical directed by Taymor with music by Elliot Goldenthal.
The world premiere is scheduled to run from May 11 to June 6, 2027, at the Harvey Theater of the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) in New York.
BAM introduced the production Thursday (local time) when it announced its winter-spring 2027 season. According to Broadway News, a US performing arts trade publication, "The Grand Delusion" will take the BAM stage "by special arrangement" with Shin Chun-su and OD Company. BAM described the work as "a new erotic, thrilling musical with danger and diabolical humor."
The story follows a love story moving between contemporary New York, India and a magical realm called "the grand delusion." The production weaves together dance, immersive stage design, puppetry and music — a showcase for Taymor's signature theatrical language of masks and puppets that conjures entire worlds on stage.
Taymor has a rare artistic biography. She studied mythology and folklore in college, then spent her early career in Indonesia, where she founded a mask and dance theater company. The vocabulary she developed there came to full flower in the 1997 Broadway production of "The Lion King," for which she won Tony Awards for best direction of a musical and best costume design — becoming the first woman to win the directing prize. She has also worked beyond the musical stage, directing the films "Frida" and "Across the Universe" as well as "The Magic Flute" at the Metropolitan Opera.
Composer Elliot Goldenthal has been Taymor's life and creative partner since 1980. He won the Academy Award for best original score for "Frida," and the opera "Grendel," which the two created together, was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in music in 2007. The pair have also collaborated on the musical "Juan Darien" and the films "Titus" and "The Tempest." Broadway News described "The Grand Delusion" as "their major stage collaboration in years."
BAM, the venue for the world premiere, is the oldest operating performing arts center in the United States. It received its charter in 1859 and opened in 1861. While Broadway is known as the home of blockbusters, BAM has built its reputation on experimental and avant-garde work. It also hosts the Next Wave Festival, which has long introduced new productions by leading international artists. The Harvey Theater, built in 1904, seats about 800.
"It is deeply meaningful to bring 'The Grand Delusion' — a work of enormous vision — to the world alongside Julie Taymor, a living master of contemporary performing arts," Shin said. "The artistic soul of Julie Taymor and Elliot Goldenthal, combined with the producing capabilities of a Korean producer, will create a perfect synergy and deliver to audiences around the world the essence of an overwhelming and captivating theatrical art they have never experienced before."
Shin set off a craze in the Korean musical market in 2004 with "Jekyll & Hyde." OD Company went on to produce "Man of La Mancha," "Dracula" and "Il Tenore." His path to Broadway was not smooth: "Holler If Ya Hear Me" closed after four weeks in 2014, and "Doctor Zhivago" lasted just three weeks in 2015.
The turnaround came in April 2024, when Shin became the first Korean producer to serve as lead producer of a Broadway show, bringing "The Great Gatsby" to the stage. The production won the Tony Award for best costume design that year and surpassed 1,000 Broadway performances last month. Cumulative sales through Sept. 27 stand at approximately $141.76 million, though the $25 million production cost has yet to be recouped. This year, Shin also joined as co-producer of the Broadway musical "Titanic." He is currently developing a stage adaptation of the film "August Rush" with Warner Bros. Theatre Ventures.
shee@heraldcorp.com
