Screenwriter Of ‘Miss Daisy’ Fame Re-Creates ‘My Paris’ For Long Wharf

Whose Paris is it, anyway?

Alfred Uhry, the playwright and screenwriter, has driven Miss Daisy, abetted the Robber Bridegroom, served Mystic Pizza and shaken up Angel Reapers. Now, at Long Wharf Theatre through May 29, he’s painting a picture of “My Paris.”

The Pulitzer-winning writer is quick to point out that “My Paris” is not his Paris. Uhry is more accustomed to writing about the American South. “My Paris” is the Paris of Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, the misunderstood and often misconstrued French artist.

“My Paris” may be busting a few myths about Toulouse-Lautrec. “I love his work, and I knew he had a remarkable life,” Uhry said on the phone during a Long Wharf rehearsal last week. “I thought he was a dwarf. He wasn’t a dwarf. He just had fragile bones.”

Another “My” of “My Paris” is the famous French pop star Charles Aznavour. Twenty years ago, Aznavour wrote sings for a musical about Toulouse-Lautrec. The show was produced in Europe but Aznavour wasn’t satisfied with that production.

Uhry, who confesses that “My knowledge of French is high school French,” was enlisted to create an entirely new book for the musical. “I never saw that version,” he says. “I never read it. I don’t know anything about it. Someone here thought I would be marvelous for this. They said, ‘Here’s the score. Write whatever you want.'”

Uhry in turn brought Jason Robert Brown, his collaborator on the musical “Parade,” to the project as is musical arranger. “He likes the songs of Aznavour.” Long Wharf did a production of Brown’s two-character romantic musical “The Last Five Years” in 2014.

“My Paris” has been in the works for “five or six years now,” Uhry says. “It’s not my usual way of working — when the songwriter is overseas.” Aznavour — one of the most popular singers and performers of the 20th century, having sold more than 100 million records — is now 92 years old, yet has been turning out new songs for the musical when requested and staying deeply involved with the show.

Uhry sees a genuineness in “My Paris” that eludes other shows about La Belle Epoque. “The songs don’t sound French.” Uhry says. “They are French. Aznavour is a wonderful songwriter.”

“My Paris” has been produced once in Connecticut already. Goodspeed Musicals hosted the show at its Norma Terris Theatre in Chester just last year, with most of the same lead players who are at the Long Wharf now. Bobby Steggert resumes the starring role of Toulouse-Lautrec, Donna English is once again “Maman,” Kate Marilley returns as “Yvette Gilbert” and John Riddle reprises his role of Grenier. The part of “papa,” played by John Glover at Goodspeed, is now being done by Tom Hewitt, who’s appeared previously at Long Wharf in “Private Lives” and “Travesties.”

Long Wharf’s is a “bigger production” than Goodspeed’s, Uhry says. “More costumes. More sets. More realized.”

Alfred Uhry says it’s been a blessing to continue working on “My Paris,” with largely the same cast and creative team, still in Connecticut, away from the prying eyes of New York. “We needed the time,” he says, even though his work now mainly amounts to “a touch-up here, a touch-up there.” Having actors who’ve become accustomed to the roles makes for more nuanced alterations. “If you’ve got a great actor like Bobby Steggert,” Uhry says, “and a line isn’t working, you know it’s not him — it’s you.”

Uhry is being modest; he’s had a great year. One of his earliest hits, the 1975 musical “The Robber Bridegroom,” had a major New York revival this year, its whole style and attitude overhauled by director Alex Timbers. Uhry’s collaboration with director/choreographer Martha Clarke, “Angel Reapers” (about the Shaker religion), also opened in New York to much acclaim.

As a writer, Uhry is renowned for capturing the time and place, the whole cultural context, of whatever he’s writing about. That includes race relations in 1940s Atlanta (in “Driving Miss Daisy”), the seaside social scene of Mystic (in the movie “Mystic Pizza”) and European religious strictures in the mid-19th century (the play “Edgardo Mine”).

Given the setting of “My Paris” — the Parisian cabaret and cafe scene of the late 19th century — can we expect a can-can? “Of course. Charles Aznavour had written a real can-can.” Such a high-kicking dance routine is in keeping with the show’s generally upbeat approach. “What Aznavour wanted in this show is a good time.”

But, the playwright adds, the gaiety is tempered by “the heartbreak of a man who knows he only has a short time to live.”

“MY PARIS,” with music and lyrics by Charles Aznavour, book by Alfred Uhry and English lyrics and musical adaptation by Jason Robert Brown, is at the Long Wharf Theatre, 222 Sargent Drive, New Haven, through May 29. Performances are Tuesday at 7 p.m., Wednesday at 2 and 7 p.m., Thursday and Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 3 and 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. Added Sunday evening performances 7 p.m. on May 8 and 15. No performance May 11. Tickets are $30.50 to $90.50. Information: 203-787-4282, longwharf.org.