EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Broadway will get a Western play for the first time in decades next year when High Noon, a world premiere stage adaptation by Forrest Gump scribe Eric Roth of the Stanley Kramer-produced 1952 film classic, arrives on the New York stage.Michael Arden, whose Once On This Island won the Tony Award for Best Musical Revival in 2018, will direct.“It’s an Everest challenge to translate to the stage,” said Paula Wagner, who will produce with Hunter Arnold, in an exclusive interview with Deadline. “But if anyone can do it, it’s Eric Roth and our director Michael Arden.”Roth, who has been nominated for six Academy Awards for Best Adapted Screenplay (The Insider, Munich, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, A Star is Born, Dune and winner Forrest Gump) will make his Broadway debut with High Noon.

The adaptation will unfold in real time over the course of its two-hour running time, similar to the film.Production dates, additional design team, casting and venue will be announced at a later date.‘Into The Woods’ Hit Revival Extends Broadway RunOne of the most influential and beloved of Hollywood’s classic film Westerns, director Fred Zinnemann’s High Noon starred Gary Cooper and Grace Kelly in the powerful tale of a town marshal who stands up against an outlaw gang – and an entire town – to do the right thing.

Carl Foreman wrote the original screenplay.“The time was right for this story,” Wagner told Deadline. “It was a great allegory then and it’s a great allegory now.”The film won seven Oscars including Best Picture.

Wagner wouldn’t disclose the specific approach that Roth and Arden will take, but said the play will remain true to the classic film, and not be a contemporary reimagining. “The core to any great

‘High Noon’ On Broadway: Beloved Hollywood Western To Be Adapted For Stage By ‘Forrest Gump’ Writer Eric Roth

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