Story of the Week: Is The Da Vinci Code Headed to Broadway?

The stage adaptation of The Da Vinci Code officially opens tomorrow night at Maine’s Ogunquit Playhouse. This marks the American premiere of the play (adapted by Rachel Wagstaff and Duncan Abel), which debuted last year in the UK.

With ticket prices higher than ever and commercial theater increasingly reliant on brand recognition to sell tickets, the arrival of a title as well-known as The Da Vinci Code prompts one obvious question: Is it going to Broadway?

“Absolutely,” answered Dan Brown during a recent interview, exuding the confidence of an author who has sold millions of books worldwide (Brown demurred when I asked him exactly how many million, but according to Ogunquit Playhouse, sales for The Da Vinci Code alone exceed 100 million). If Harry Potter and The Notebook can make it to Broadway, so can The Da Vinci Code.

Story of the Week will consider the bestselling novel and its prospects for the stage (I recently spoke with Brown and the show’s stars, Michael Urie and Hannah Cruz, in an interview that was conducted in accordance with current SAG-AFTRA guidelines). But just in case you’ve managed to avoid entering a bookstore for the last two decades…

What is The Da Vinci Code?

The second novel in Dan Brown’s Robert Langdon series, The Da Vinci Code follows the Harvard symbologist and French cryptologist Sophie Neveu as they attempt to uncover a 2,000-year-old secret kept by murdered Louvre curator Jacques Saunière, who was also the leader of an ancient secret society. Pursued by agents of Opus Dei and the French police (who view Langdon as the primary suspect in the murder), they follow a series of clues left by Saunière, all leading to a revelation that has the potential to upend the Christian world.

Laid out in 105 digestible chapters, The Da Vinci Code blends the hallmarks of an action-adventure thriller with an avalanche of riddles and word games sure to delight any crossword aficionado. Many of the scenes take place in transit, which possibly explains the novel’s position as a staple of airport bookstores. It’s one of those books that conjures movie scenes inside the reader’s head, which is why it so naturally transitioned into a feature film starring Tom Hanks and Audrey Tautou in 2006, just three years after the publication of the book (worldwide box office revenue for the film is estimated at $760 million).

The property is an unqualified success on page and screen — forms that allow us to instantly leap across oceans, appearing in the Louvre in one scene, the cabin of a transatlantic jet in the next. The stage is more physically restricted (although clever directors find solutions). But it still merits the question:

Why turn The Da Vinci Code into a play?

“You read a book alone,” said Michael Urie, who plays Langdon onstage. “Going to the theater, you’re sharing space with people and you’re going to walk out talking. And there are so many things to discuss in The Da Vinci Code.”

Hannah Cruz, who plays Neveu, concurred, noting the difficulty of creating a dramatic thriller without the benefit of post-production. “Even if you know the story, the fast-paced nature of the play is such an interesting thing to watch live. And as an actor, it’s very fun to perform.”

Those who caught the Broadway run of Grey House know that there are stage actors who are really good at making audiences jump in their seats, but few new plays call upon that skill set. “We don’t get asked to do it very much,” said Urie. “You have to be so much cleverer onstage about how you scare someone or hold suspense.”

The Da Vinci Code is a well-known story at this point, but the visceral relief of being in the room with Robert and Sophie as they evade capture, or their shared euphoria when they crack the code, has the potential to be an entirely new sensation for audiences. This is what the creatives are banking on.

Who is working on The Da Vinci Code?

 The story has been adapted for the stage by Rachel Wagstaff and Duncan Abel, with Brown observing from a distance but generally taking a hands-off approach.

“I learned from being a spectator on my movies that this is a skill set you leave to the professionals,” he said. “I read the scripts along the way and was massively impressed with how well they compressed and distilled. It’s got great pace.”

Translating that pacing to the stage is the job of director Leigh Toney, whose work is based on the original UK staging by Luke Sheppard (& Juliet). Tom Jackson Greaves is the movement director, a vital position that can really compensate for the lack of a camera and editing tools.

Joining Urie and Cruz onstage is Charles Shaughnessy as Sir Leigh Teabing, the eccentric British aristocrat and Holy Grail obsessive. Shaughnessy embarked on a distinctly sillier grail quest when he played King Arthur in Ogunquit’s 2021 production of Spamalot, but audiences are likeliest to know him as Maxwell Sheffield from The Nanny. One wonders if The Da Vinci Code is a project the fictional Broadway producer (and archrival to Andrew Lloyd Webber) would take on.

When will we see it on Broadway?

 While Brown seems confident that The Da Vinci Code will eventually make it to Broadway, no firm timeline has been announced. Much will depend on the audience and critical response at Ogunquit, which will help determine a path forward for this play.

I suspect that audiences will be drawn to The Da Vinci Code for the same reasons the book became a bestseller two decades ago: It’s exotic yet accessible, and it draws you deeper into its mystery with every action-packed scene. It also indulges our attraction to conspiracy theories, a dark American pastime that shows no sign of waning in the age of QAnon and presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

“People want to know someone is driving the bus,” explained Brown when I asked him about this enduring appeal. “People hate the notion that things are random. And when bad things happen, it’s much more comforting to believe that somebody is behind it than it’s just bad luck.”

So if we don’t actually see The Da Vinci Code on Broadway in the next five years, you know whom to blame…