Awkward Productions will take their viral sensation Gwyneth Goes Skiing to Edinburgh Fringe this August 2024. Gwyneth Goes Skiing, which is a co-production between Awkward Productions and the Pleasance Theatre, returns to the slopes after two sold-out and critically-acclaimed runs in London. This gloriously silly play-with-music marks Awkward Productions’ return to the Fringe after Diana: The Untold and Untrue Story had a sold-out run in 2023.
In an exciting development for the show, the Emmy and Golden Globe-winning, Broadway legend Darren Criss will provide the singing voice of Terry Sanderson. Alongside Criss, Edinburgh Comedy Award Winning comedian, actress and singer Cat Cohen will lend her voice as Gwyneth Paltrow on the vocal track with hits including I Wish You Well and See You In Court.
Darren Criss is best known for playing the role of Blaine Anderson in Glee (alongside the real Gwyneth Paltrow!). In 2018, he was awarded Emmy and Golden Globe acting awards for his leading role in The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story. Criss has also starred on Broadway in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying and Hedwig and the Angry Inch.
Edinburgh Comedy Award-winner Cat Cohen’s live comedy performances combine stand-up comedy with cabaret-style songs. The comedian, actress, and singer’s first Netflix comedy special, The Twist…? She’s Gorgeous, was released in 2022. As an actress, she has appeared on comedy series such as High Maintenance, Broad City, Search Party, and What We Do in the Shadows.
Criss and Cohen digitally join Trixie Mattel who makes a special on-screen appearance as Gwyneth Paltrow’s mother, Blythe Danner. They are seen alongside the original Gwyneth Goes Skiing cast – Linus Karp as the Goop-founding, Door-Sliding, Shakespeare-In-Loving, consciously-uncoupling Hollywood superstar Gwyneth Paltrow and Joseph Martin as her nemesis, Terry Sanderson, a retired Optometrist from Utah.
The world debut of Darren and Cat’s voices will be back where it all began, Park City, Utah. The now-infamous location of Terry Sanderson and Gwyneth Paltrow’s collision in 2016 will play host to the US transfer of Awkward Productions and Pleasance Theatre’s runaway hit. Gwyneth Goes Skiing’s transfer to The Egyptian Theatre marks the first international transfer for Awkward Productions’ work.
Gwyneth Goes Skiing recounts the collision in 2016 on the slopes of Deer Valley and the court case seven years later that enthralled the world. This very silly story of justice, betrayal and optometry makes the audience the jury, asking them to decide who’s guilty and who’s gooped. Gwyneth Goes Skiing features a whole lot of fiction, a sprinkling of verbatim lines from court transcripts and delightfully catchy original music by Leland (RuPaul’s Drag Race; Cher’s Christmas; Troye Sivan’s Something To Give Each Other).
