Thou Shalt Not

Plymouth Theatre

Susan Stroman returned to LCT (post-Contact) with THOU SHALT NOT in September 2001, at which time she became the first director-choreographer to have four musicals running concurrently: Contact which was still running at the Beaumont at the time, The Producers, The Music Man and THOU SHALT NOT. THOU SHALT NOT is a story of uncontrolled passion, set in New Orleans after World War II. Adapted from Emile Zola's 1867 novel Therese Raquin, this is a tragic tale of a young married woman whose life is irrevocably altered by the arrival of a sexually-charged jazz musician returning from the war. To write the score, Stroman enlisted someone who truly lives and breathes the music of New Orleans: Louisiana native Harry Connick, Jr., the renowned singer, songwriter, jazz pianist, band leader and actor. With THOU SHALT NOT, Connick made an impressive theatrical debut as composer/lyricist/orchestrator of a score which melds the sounds of Big Band, New Orleans funk, straight-ahead jazz and classic American standards. He partnered with librettist David Thompson, a regular collaborator of Stroman's, having worked together on the Broadway musical Steel Pier (for which they were both Tony Award nominees), the off-Broadway revival of Flora, The Red Menace and the musical revue And The World Goes Round, among many projects. Thompson also scripted the long-running Broadway revival of Kander & Ebb's musical Chicago. This talented trio came up with a sexy, emotional drama with adult themes, the musical equivalent of a page-turner you can't put down. The physical production for THOU SHALT NOT was one of the most ambitious to date.