Show History

History

Inspiration

Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, with a book by Jeffrey Lane (Dirty Rotten Scoundrels) and music and lyrics by David Yazbek (The Full Monty, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels), is a stage adaptation of Pedro Almodóvar's film of the same name. The film is a black comedy-drama that deals with an ensemble of people undergoing a variety of anxieties and stresses on a spectrum of farce. After finishing Dirty Rotten Scoundrels in 2005, Lane and Yazbek were searching to challenge themselves and decided to try a foreign film adaptation.

Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown was workshopped in several intensive sessions over the course of 18 months, all including Pedro Almodóvar, the director and writer of the source material film.

Productions

Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown had workshop readings in October 2009 and March 2010; the latter was directed by Tony winner Bartlett Sher. The musical finally opened on Broadway at the Belasco Theatre in Lincoln Center on November 4, 2010. It played a limited engagement of 69 regular performances before closing on January 2, 2011.

The regional premiere of the musical took place in September 2014 at the Theatre at the Center in Chicago. A West End production, also directed by Sher, opened at the Playhouse Theatre in January 2015 for a limited twenty-week engagement, starring Olivier Award-winning performer Tamsin Greig.

Trivia

• Celebrities that have starred in Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown include: Patti LuPone (Lucia), Salma Hayek, Jessica Biel, Matthew Morrison, Justin Guarini (Carlos), Sherie Rene Scott (Pepa), Brian Stokes Mitchell (Ivan), Danny Burstein (Taxi Driver), Paulo Szot (Ivan), Mary Beth Peil (Concierge) and Laura Benanti (Candela).