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Bright Lights, Big City is a rock musical with music, lyrics and book written by Scottish composer Paul Scott Goodman based on the 1984 novel by Jay McInerney. It follows a week in the life of Jamie, a successful young writer who loses himself in the chaos of 1980s New York City. The piece premiered Off-Broadway in New York City in 1999 and was revived in a small London production in 2010.
Jamie, a twenty-four-year-old who came to New York City to fulfill his dream of being a writer, now finds himself in a frightfully boring job in the "factual verification department" of Gotham Magazine under tight-lipped boss Clara. Jamie soon discovers the party-scene of New York where he meets characters like Tad, who brings Jamie into a world of cocaine, sex and all-night partying at the Odeon club. Jamie indulges but eventually finds himself spinning out of control. His wife Amanda, a model, leaves him to follow her dream in Paris. He loses touch with his brother, Michael, who is left confused and alone since the death of their mother, and Jamie loses his job.
Drugs and partying get the better of Jamie, as he starts to be haunted by hallucinations, while Chuck Bean, the number one reporter in town, worms his way into Jamie's brain. Jamie spirals out of control as the hallucinations and reality start to crumble.
Tad introduces Jamie to his cousin, Vicky. It is meant to be nothing but a one-night engagement, but Jamie finds himself drawn to the rationality, innocence and philosophical tendencies of Vicky. He soon decides to turn his life around, forgetting about Amanda, deserting Tad, reconnecting with Michael, being with Vicky and finally restarting the novel he once gave up on.
The show first opened at the New York Theatre Workshop on 24 February 1999. It was directed and musically staged by Michael Greif, with orchestrations and musical direction by Richard Barone. It starred Patrick Wilson as Jamie, Jerry Dixon as Tad, Napiera Daniele Groves as Amanda, Annmarie Milazzo as the Mother, John Link Graney as Michael and Natascia Diaz as Vicky. The show opened to mixed reviews, many of which compared it unfavorably with Rent , which was created at the same theatre with almost entirely the same creative team, minus Jonathan Larson.
On the concept cast recording, the cast included Patrick Wilson (Jamie), Christine Ebersole (Clara), Sherie Rene Scott (Vicky), Jesse L. Martin (Tad), Eden Espinosa (Druggie/Coma Baby), Celia Keenan-Bolger (Mary O'Brien Mchann), Sharon Leal (Amanda), Anne Marie Milazzo (Mother), and Gavin Creel (Michael).
The show had its professional UK premiere in November 2010 at Hoxton Hall, London, starring Paul Ayres (Jamie), Matthew Gent (Michael), Lori Haley Fox (Mother), Rachael Wooding (Amanda), Jodie Jacobs (Vicky), George Maguire (Tad), Rietta Austin (Coma Baby/Clara), Stuart Armfield (Alex), Oliver Roll (Chuck Bean) and Mary Cormack (Mary O'Brien McCann). It was produced by Sue Knox for This Stage Ltd, directed by Christopher Lane and choreographed by Fabian Aloise. [1]
Tad Martin is a fictional character from the American daytime drama, All My Children. Tad was played by three actors, according to the age of the character: Matthew Anton, John E. Dunn, and Michael E. Knight. Knight has portrayed the role on and off from 1983 until the series finale in 2011. Tad represents the good on the show, often butting heads with "villains" like Adam Chandler. He is perhaps the best male friend to Erica Kane. His relationship with Dixie Cooney made them a favorite of fans, reaching supercouple status. Under secrecy, Knight returned for the first-season finale of Prospect Park's version of All My Children on September 2, 2013.
Brooke Allison English is a fictional character on the television soap opera All My Children. Originated by Elissa Leeds on March 10, 1976, she was portrayed by Julia Barr from June 1976 to June 1981 and from November 1982 to December 20, 2006. Harriet Hall played the role from June 1981 through March 1982. Barr made a special appearance as Brooke on January 5, 2010, as part of the series' 40th anniversary, and returned on February 23, 2010, for a two-month stint until April 23, 2010. She later returned for the show's final week on ABC on September 16, 2011. She returned as Brooke on the Prospect Park's continuation of All My Children.
Jesse and Angela "Angie" Hubbard are fictional characters and a supercouple from the ABC and The Online Network daytime drama All My Children. Jesse is portrayed by Darnell Williams and Angie is portrayed by Debbi Morgan. Jesse first appeared in Pine Valley in 1981 as the nephew of Dr. Frank Grant, who assumed custody after the death of his sister. Angie first appeared in 1982, as the daughter of a well-to-do Pine Valley couple. Shortly after Angie's first appearance on the show, they were paired with one another. Jesse and Angie were best friends to fellow supercouple Greg Nelson and Jenny Gardner. They are arguably the two most popular African American characters in soap opera history.
John Barrett "Jay" McInerney Jr. is an American novelist, screenwriter, editor, and columnist. His novels include Bright Lights, Big City, Ransom, Story of My Life, Brightness Falls, and The Last of the Savages. He edited The Penguin Book of New American Voices, wrote the screenplay for the 1988 film adaptation of Bright Lights, Big City, and co-wrote the screenplay for the television film Gia, which starred Angelina Jolie. He was the wine columnist for House & Garden magazine, and his essays on wine have been collected in Bacchus & Me (2000) and A Hedonist in the Cellar (2006). His most recent novel is titled Bright, Precious Days, published in 2016. From April 2010 he was a wine columnist for The Wall Street Journal. In 2009, he published a book of short stories which spanned his entire career, titled How It Ended, which was named one of the 10 best books of the year by Janet Maslin of The New York Times.
Miranda Montgomery is a fictional character from the American serial drama, All My Children.
Bright Lights, Big City is a 1988 American tragic drama film directed by James Bridges, starring Michael J. Fox, Kiefer Sutherland, Phoebe Cates, Dianne Wiest and Jason Robards, and based on the novel by Jay McInerney, who also wrote the screenplay. It was the last film directed by Bridges, who died in 1993.
Amanda Dillon is a fictional character from the American daytime television soap opera All My Children. She is the daughter of police officer/detective Trevor Dillon and longtime series villain Janet Marlowe aka "Janet from Another Planet"; however, Amanda was thought to be the child of her aunt Natalie Marlowe, who later adopted her. Alexis Manta portrayed the character as a child from 1996–2000, and Chrishell Stause has portrayed the character as an adult from 2005 till the end of the series in 2011. Stause's version of Amanda started out a scheming, seductive troublemaker, but later matured into a warmer, kinder person due to her relationship with Jake Martin.
Be My Baby was the 1998 debut play by British playwright Amanda Whittington.
Bright Lights, Big City is a novel by American author Jay McInerney, published by Vintage Books on August 12, 1984. It is written about a character's time spent caught up in, and notably escaping from, the early 1980s New York City fast lane. The novel is written in the second person, an unusual narrative method in English language fiction.
Dixie Cooney is a fictional character from All My Children, an American soap opera on the ABC network. The character was initially portrayed by actress Kari Gibson from her debut in July 1988 until October of that year when she was replaced by actress Cady McClain who portrayed the role for the rest of the character's existence.
Greg Nelson and Jenny Gardner are fictional characters and a supercouple from the American soap opera All My Children. Greg was portrayed by Laurence Lau, and Jenny was portrayed by actress Kim Delaney.
Jake McKinnon is a fictional character, portrayed by Tom Eplin throughout its entirety. Debuting on NBC's daytime drama, Another World, after its cancellation, the character crossed over to the CBS daytime drama, As the World Turns.
Vicky Hudson is a fictional character that appeared on the NBC daytime soap opera Another World and the CBS daytime soap opera As the World Turns. The character was introduced in 1985 as the secret twin sister of Marley Love, and the twins were originally played by Ellen Wheeler, who left the following year due to exhaustion. Rhonda Lewin then portrayed Vicky from September to December 1986, before the role of both twins were then played by Anne Heche from 1987 to 1991. Vicky was last played by Jensen Buchanan, who debuted on July 25, 1991. The character was killed in a plane crash in November 1999, but remained as a ghost through 2001. Cynthia Watros also portrayed the role temporarily in 1998.
The Martin family is a fictional family on the popular ABC daytime soap opera, All My Children.
"Bright Lights, Big City" is a classic blues song which was written and first recorded by American bluesman Jimmy Reed in 1961. Besides being "an integral part of the standard blues repertoire", "Bright Lights, Big City" has appealed to a variety of artists, including country and rock musicians, who have recorded their interpretations of the song.
Damon Miller is a fictional character on the ABC daytime drama All My Children. He was portrayed by Finn Wittrock from October 30, 2009, to February 21, 2011. In February 2010, Wittrock was updated to contract status following the show's move from New York to Los Angeles. A long-lost member of the Martin family, Damon is the son of Tad Martin and his ex-wife Hillary Wilson.
Cara Castillo is a fictional character from the original ABC and The Online Network soap opera, All My Children. Amanda Hall Rogers portrayed the character for two episodes on June 9 and June 10, 2003, before being written off. The character was reintroduced, portrayed by actress Lindsay Hartley on December 9, 2010, until the series finale on September 23, 2011. In December 2012, it was announced that Hartley would reprise the role for the impending online reboot on April 29, 2013.
The Slap is an American drama television miniseries, which aired on NBC from February 12 to April 2, 2015. It is an adaptation of the Australian series of the same name, which was based on Christos Tsiolkas' 2008 novel of the same name. Each episode tells the events of the aftermath of a birthday party from the perspective of a different character. Jon Robin Baitz wrote the teleplay and Lisa Cholodenko directed the pilot episode.
