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Video: LIFE OF PI Company Celebrates Opening Night on Broadway
May 17, 2024
It wasn't just humans walking the red carpet at the Schoenfeld Theatre last night. Richard Parker himself, Broadway's most famous tiger, came out to celebrate opening night of Life of Pi on Broadway. BroadwayWorld was there and we are taking you behind the scenes in this video!
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0:00
Hello, I'm Richard Ridge for Broadway World
0:02
The five-time Olivier Award winner, Life of Pie, has come to Broadway, and we're here on opening night to celebrate with the company
0:19
It is opening night. Welcome to Broadway. How does it feel? It feels incredibly exciting
0:24
I never thought when I wrote this book 20 years ago that I'd be here on Broadway for the opening of my book as a play
0:29
Well, let's talk about what it means to you to have this on stage, this beautiful adaptation
0:34
I'm really happy because I really love theater. You know, theaters like prose
0:38
You can see the artifice there. You can see the words on the page. You can see the puppeteers doing the tiger, and it really works because you co-created
0:45
That's what spectators and readers do. You co-create something. You make the magic, and it really works with this play
0:50
I'm really, really happy with it. What's made this so special for you with working on this piece
0:57
So many things, you know. But the piece itself is amazing, the book, the story
1:03
I feel like it's not just a show. It's such like a deep sort of spiritual journey that we take the audience as well
1:13
And I feel like we go through it as well in bits And I don know I get I very invested in this show you know It quite I feel it quite deeply whenever I do it
1:29
So to open it here on Broadway and to welcome audiences, it's quite a humbling experience
1:38
It is opening night. How do you feel tonight? So excited. We've all worked so hard, and we are so ready to
1:44
Welcome everybody, onto our boat. I feel like all my ancestors are showing up for me
1:51
I feel like, you know, I remember when I went to auditions and I thought
1:56
oh my God, I don't know if I belong. My grandmother was illiterate and from the village
2:01
And I'm here today representing my people and representing a theater community
2:06
that has such deep roots. I am thrilled to be here. This show, I read this book when it came out
2:13
And I've absolutely loved it ever since because of the story of survival through storytelling
2:20
And because of something that I do, storytelling, that's what made it so special. But in terms of South Asian representation, this show is seminal
2:27
And I feel very, very blessed to be a part of that
2:33
Because I am a South Asian. I a Pakistani Muslim And having that portrayed on stage in Broadway I mean it unbelievable I get to speak my cultural language on stage
2:46
I get to speak Punjabi. There's a speech that the watermelon cellar in my mom's neighborhood said
2:50
that I'm reciting on this stage. So it's a blessing. To be a career puppeteer
2:56
to be working in puppetry for over a decade, and then to see a show that puts puppetry and the art of puppetry
3:02
at the center of storytelling, The center of memory and the way and perspective
3:08
and make that a central component of this story that became a movie
3:16
I'm really excited to sort of bring my whole self to something. And yeah, I don't know
3:22
It's great that this show went on Olivier, and I'm just really kind of proud and thrilled to be a part of it
3:27
For me, what's very special about this is it is a ensemble show
3:34
I love working in ensemble theatre. I love that everybody as a family
3:40
We make the work together. You know, we go through the hard times, the good times
3:44
We're very, very close unit, and that for me is the best thing about theatre
3:49
It's been so special because I never thought that this would happen
3:53
I did it back in Sheffield and I literally never thought that I would be part of this If it went to Broadway I didn think that I would have a chance of going with it And to be here opening the show on Broadway is absolutely incredible
4:07
What has the whole preview process been like when you realize how much this is touching audiences
4:12
Oh, it's amazing. Hearing a large, full Broadway house stand up and cheer at the end of the first act, and again
4:17
at the end of the second act, it's really moving. It's really, really wonderful to see. Audiences are falling in love with this show, what that means to you
4:23
It means the world to me. And every night when we come out for curtain call it is my favorite part of the show
4:28
because the audiences love the show. And it's so gratifying to see the joy that we're creating
4:35
And it makes it all the more special that we're doing something that people seem to really, really love
4:42
The audience reaction has been very, it's been quite awesome. I mean, as soon as we finish, there's this huge cheer that goes out
4:53
And then there are, when I look into the audience, there are like all ages there, but everybody has been moved deeply
5:02
And there are tears, you know, like there's laughter all throughout. It's just, it's very hard to explain, but I think, like, nobody should miss this
5:15
They should come and see it
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