I Wish You Well: The Gwyneth Paltrow Ski Trial Musical is set for a world premiere at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe this summer. The production will run August 3-26 at the Udderbelly at Underbelly George Square. Shiv Rabheru (Hamilton) will direct.
It's a musical recreation of the 2023 trial between Paltrow and Terry Sanderson, where the retired optometrist sued the actor for $300,000 for a crash between the two on a ski slope. Paltrow countersued for $1. The Utah court ruled in favor of the actor.
Diana Vickers (X Factor, Dial M for Murder) will star as Gwyneth Paltrow, with additional casting to be announced. Casting is by Seth Mason.
I Wish You Well features a book and lyrics by Roger Dipper and Rick Pearson. According to press notes, the musical is packed full of trial moments like questions about Taylor Swift, and the whisper of "I wish you well," the fast-paced parody is "as good as Gwyneth's candles smell."
“I, like the rest of the world, love true crime and celebrity scandal," Rabheru said in a statement. "The Gwyneth Paltrow ski trial had me hooked and I was addicted to the iconic memes and tweets. The hope with I Wish You Well is to feed our audiences fascination with celebrity crime, and pack in even more campery and chaos. We all need a little more joy and silliness in the world and collaborating with Roger, Rick, Arlene and Paul on this fabulous show has had me laughing so hard I’ve needed my inhaler! Ski you in court!?”
The creative team includes choreographer Arlene Phillips, music director Debbi Clark, lighting designer Alex Lewer, designer David Shields, and sound designer Dan Samson.
Paul Taylor-Mills (My Son's a Queer (But What Can You Do?)) is producing the premiere.
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This is the second show about the Paltrow-Sanderson ski trial that will be produced at the Fringe this year. Linus Karp and Joseph Martin's Gwyneth Goes Skiiing, featuring the voice of Darren Criss, will also be running. Which ski trial show will reign supreme? Tune into Playbill's Festival Fringe coverage to find out.
