When Does the Stage Musical "King Kong" (2013) Take Place?
"King Kong" is an adventure horror (kaiju) stage-musical written by Michael Mitnick with Craig Lucas [adapting "King Kong" (1933) by James Creelman with Ruth Rose, Merian C. Cooper, and Edgar Wallace] first performed June 15th, 2013. So when is the original Melbourne version of "King Kong" set?
It takes place roughly in the years:
We know this because in the song "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?" the entire male ensemble sings, "Why should I be standing in line / Just waiting for bread?", referring to the breadlines common during the Great Depression in America. Breadlines haven't been seen commonly in the United States of America since 1939 AD. So it is most likely before 1939 AD.
1930s AD
We know this because in the song "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?" the entire male ensemble sings, "Why should I be standing in line / Just waiting for bread?", referring to the breadlines common during the Great Depression in America. Breadlines haven't been seen commonly in the United States of America since 1939 AD. So it is most likely before 1939 AD.
Later, the iconic final scene at the end of act 2 is atop the Empire State Building, which was finished on April 11th, 1931 AD. So it must be during or after April of 1931 AD at the end of the story.
It takes place in the years:
We know this because the opening scene of the show is workers building the Empire State Building, the construction of which began on March 17th, 1930 AD and was completed by April of 1931 AD. Ann Darrow even declares, "They say the Empire State will be a hundred stories high!" as she arrives in New York City. But then in the act 1 song "Queen of New York" she tells us, "Winter hits and now I can't get warm" and snow is falling by the end of it. So we know she arrived sometime after March of 1930 AD (in the autumn of 1930 AD at the latest) at the start of the story for her to weather the start of her first NYC winter.
A very different production from the original Melbourne one arrived on Broadway written by Eddie Perfect with Jack Thorne that released on November 8th, 2018. So when is the Broadway version of "King Kong" set?
1930 AD - 1931 AD
We know this because the opening scene of the show is workers building the Empire State Building, the construction of which began on March 17th, 1930 AD and was completed by April of 1931 AD. Ann Darrow even declares, "They say the Empire State will be a hundred stories high!" as she arrives in New York City. But then in the act 1 song "Queen of New York" she tells us, "Winter hits and now I can't get warm" and snow is falling by the end of it. So we know she arrived sometime after March of 1930 AD (in the autumn of 1930 AD at the latest) at the start of the story for her to weather the start of her first NYC winter.
Later, the iconic final scene at the end of act 2 is atop the unfinished Empire State Building. The Empire State Building topped out on September 19th, 1930 AD and then finished on April 11th, 1931 AD. So it must be after September of 1930 AD but before April of 1931 AD at the end of the narrative.
The Broadway version's program (though this is promotional material [epitext]) even includes the phrase "IT'S 1931 IN TIMES SQUARE."
