The Edinburgh Festival Fringe is the biggest arts festival in the world, with over 3,700 shows. This year, Playbill is in town for the festival and we’re taking you with us. Follow along as we cover every single aspect of the Fringe, aka our real-life Brigadoon!
Sometimes real life is stranger than fiction. Nowhere is that clearer than in Gwyneth Goes Skiing, the stage dramatization of the Gwyneth Paltrow versus Terry Sanderson ski trial—where the retired optometrist sued the Oscar-winning actor in 2023 for allegedly running into him on a ski slope in Utah. For Linus Karp and Joseph Martin of Awkward Productions, it was no brainer to turn that trial—which had the world enraptured—into a stage show.
Says Karp, who plays Paltrow in the musical: "Like so many other gays who spent too much time online, we were quite obsessed with the Gwyneth Paltrow ski trial as it was playing out. And as it kept on giving us, like, more and more amazing quotes and ridiculous moments, I sort of turned to Joseph and said, 'Don't you think there's a show in this.'" Watch Karp and Martin discuss Gwyneth Goes Skiing in the video above with Playbill's Jeffrey Vizcaíno.
Gwyneth Goes Skiing is one of two shows that ran at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe about the ski trial. After the Fringe, the musical will tour Ireland and the U.K., and it will return to where it all began: Park City, Utah, where the infamous ski slopes are located.
The show was performed in Utah earlier this year, and according to Martin, those who were involved in the trial came to see it—"People who like, jurors, witnesses, bio-mechanical engineer," says Martin, who plays Sanderson.
Chimes in Karp: "One of the lawyers said it was 99.9 percent accurate."
Says Martin: "So, the only people involved in the case that haven't seen it now, as far as we know, are Gwyneth and Terry."
Says Karp, with a twinkle in their eyes: "Gwyneth Paltrow, if you're watching this, please come along. We love you."
Gwyneth Goes Skiing also contains vocals from Darren Criss and Catherine Cohen, as well as a digital appearance from RuPaul's Drag Race star Trixie Mattel, who will appear in a filmed segment as Gwyneth's mother, Blythe Danner.
The full cast includes Leland as Deer of Deer Valley, Sam Carlyle as Voice of Deer Valley and Mrs. Rabbit, Wez Maddocks as Mr. Squirrel, and Dan Hildebrand as Judge.
Gwyneth Goes Skiing features a book, lyrics, and direction by Karp and Martin, original music and lyrics by Leland, choreography by Sam Carlyle, stage management and lighting design by James Appleby, music production by Gabe Lopez, sound design by Roly Botha, sound recording by Wez Maddocks, graphic design by Alice Gorman, and hair and wig styling by Styled by Vodka. Nic Connaughton is producing.
