The Capeman is a musical play written by Paul Simon and Derek Walcott based on the life of Salvador Agron. The play opened at the Marquis Theatre in 1998 to poor reviews and had an initial run of less than three months. A blend of doo-wop, gospel, and latin music, it received Tony award nominations for Best Original Score, Best Orchestrations and Best Scenic Design.
The Broadway production cost $11 million to produce, taking almost a decade to reach the stage after its conception in 1989. Hampered by last-minute rewrites that pushed the opening date from January 8 to January 29, and protests at the controversial narrative subject matter, the production was notable for its cast of mostly Latin-American actors and marked the Broadway debuts of Marc Anthony, Ruben Blades, Ednita Nazario, and Sara Ramirez.
Paul Simon's studio album Songs from The Capeman is a selection of songs from The Capeman performed by Simon with occasional appearances from the original cast. An original cast recording of the complete soundtrack to the show was recorded, but never released on CD. (It was released in its entirety via iTunes.) A concert staging, entitled "Songs from 'The Capeman' " will run at The Brooklyn Academy of Music from April 1-6.
