The Brits love “The Da Vinci Code,” so the only surprise was that they waited until 2022 to adapt the 2003 novel for the stage. The drama jumped the pond in August of 2023, and Producing Artistic Director Tyler Young was first in line for the rights to produce the play in Florida.
“It’s new. It’s new material, but it’s familiar at the same time,” Young said. “So if you’re a reader, if you loved the novel, if you’re a Dan Brown fan, you’re going to enjoy the show. If you watched the movie and loved the movie, you’re going to like the show. It’s a different way of viewing the material, in front of you, happening live, in an artistic way as opposed to just on the paper or on a screen.”
Anyone who fashions themselves a detective or who relishes solving intellectually challenging riddles will delight in this fast-paced thriller. To make sure audiences don’t miss a single clue, Young’s production team makes use of fragmented projections.
“So if characters are utilizing a cell phone or a decryption device or a video screen, those things are showing up on a projection screen.”
Young and company also use movable platforms that accentuate the changing puzzle-piece clues.
“Pulling from the concept that we’re solving a mystery and a puzzle, at the end of the show, all of these pieces really come together in harmony to solve the mystery and the platforms and the stage does that as well,” said Young.
Rife with famous artworks, historical references, mathematical conundrums and religious controversy, "The Da Vinci Code" is destined to be produced on stage for generations. Southwest Florida audiences have the opportunity to be among the first to see this smartly directed, expertly acted murder-mystery.
"The Da Vinci Code" plays as The Belle Theatre in Cape Coral through January 19.
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In this thrilling multi award winning play, Professor Robert Langdon is called to the Louvre in the dead of night, where he unwittingly becomes the center of a murder investigation. When cryptologist Sophie Neveu arrives at the scene, she alerts Robert that not only is he being asked to solve the crime, he is also the prime suspect. Soon they are in a race against time to clear Robert’s name and decipher a labyrinthine code before a shocking historical secret is lost forever.
Bradyn Parmelly stars as Robert Langdon. Parmelly was last seen at The Belle Theatre as Mark Cohen in “Rent.” Bradyn’s other stage credits include the Baker in “Into the Woods” at Cultural Park Theatre (2024), Conrad Birdie in “Bye Bye Birdie” (2024), Ren McCormack in “Footloose” (2024), Pippin in “Pippin” (2023) and Danny Zuko in “Grease” (2023) at Cultural Park Theatre, as well as Grantaire in “Les Miserables” (2023) and Greg in “A Chorus Line” (2023) with Melody Lane Theatre. Other credits include Leon Czolgosz in “Assassins” (2021) and Seymour Krelborn in “Little Shop of Horrors” (2020).
Peyton McCarthy scintillates as P.S. Sophie Neveu. McCarthy’s previous credits include Lucy in "A Charlie Brown Christmas," a grounded F16 fighter pilot in "Grounded," Billie Dwyer in “Unnecessary Farce,” Ruby Sue Bennett in “Four Old Broads” at Belle Theatre in the Cape, Daisy Buchanan for Fort Myers Theatre in “The Great Gatsby,” Annelle in “Steel Magnolias” (which was her Fort Myers Theatre debut), Dr. Harriman in “Mind Games,” Mother in “Yellow Boat,” and Siobhan in “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.”
Young refers to the interactions between Parmelly and McCarthy as “sheer magic.” They anticipate each other’s moves, follow each other’s leads and even complete each other’s sentences. That kind of intimacy and chemistry is rare in theater, but in evidence on The Belle Theatre stage in "The Da Vinci Code."
Roman Mina turns in a captivating performance in the role of Sir Leigh Teabing. His accent is impeccable, his disability disarming and machinations marvelously Machiavellian. He was last seen at The Belle Theatre in the role of Benjamin Coffin III in “Rent.” He also appeared at Belle as the Scarecrow and Hunk in “The Wizard of Oz.”
Rounding out the cast are DeVaughn Parris as Silas, Louis Monaco as Inspector Bezu Fache, Cat Turner as Collet and Church Volunteer, Ethan MacKay as Remy/Officer/Philip and Kristen Wilson as Sister Sandrine/Marie/Vernet.
More than 84 million people worldwide have read “The Da Vinci Code” by Dan Brown.
Millions more saw the Ron Howard film starring Tom Hanks.
Duncan Abel and Rachel Wagstaff adapted the book for the stage.
Simon Friend commissioned the adaptation.
The play premiered at the Churchill Theatre Bromley in England in January of 2022, before touring in the United Kingdom.
The American premiere was produced in August of 2023 by Ogunquit Playhouse in Ogunquit, Maine.
London Theatre described the play as “an exciting, fast-paced, two-hour roller-coaster of thrills.”
Said Theatre Reviews North, “The play is true to the book, fast moving and with an ingenious storyline offering twists and turns that keep us guessing. It makes excellent use of historical figures and famous artworks, with a few mathematical conundrums to keep the mind ticking over. It proves to be a rattling good murder mystery as we uncover those responsible for the death of four guardians of an ancient secret. And it becomes a love story between a grandfather and granddaughter, a voyage of discovery of the self.”
“This staged version maintains the storyline of the original book where the codes come thick and fast and the dialogue is clear and concise allowing you to follow the storyline with ease,” said Art Reviews.
Duncan Abel previously co-adapted “The Girl on the Train” (2018), which transferred to the West End following a successful U.K. tour and has been performed internationally. He has written for BBC Radio Drama and Sing London. Duncan’s short fiction has appeared in numerous literary anthologies, most recently Comma Press.
Rachel Wagstaff wrote the book for multi-award winning musical, “Flowers for Mrs. Harris,” which transferred to Chichester Festival Theatre after premiering at the Sheffield Crucible. The original production won the U.K. Theatre Award for Best Musical and the London premiere at Riverside Studios won the WhatsOnStage Award for Best Off West End Production in 2024.
Wagstaff’s award-winning adaptation of “Birdsong” by Sebastian Faulks premiered in the West End, directed by Trevor Nunn. It has since enjoyed four U.K. tours and an award-winning online release in lockdown with the Original Theatre Company. For Agatha Christie Ltd., she adapted “The Mirror Crack’d,” which recently toured the U.K. in a new production by Original Theatre, after its U.K. premiere at Salisbury Playhouse, followed by a U.K. tour. The play has also been performed at NCPA in Mumbai, as well as in Shanghai.
Her musical “Moonshadow,” co-written with Yusuf Islam (Cat Stevens), played at the Royal Albert Hall and the Princess Theatre in Melbourne.
Rachel wrote the book for the original musical “Only The Brave,” which opened at the Wales Millennium Centre, and Paula Hawkins’ “The Girl on the Train,” which had a record-breaking U.K. tour and West End run in 2019 and is now performed across the world.
For radio, Rachel adapted Sebastian Faulks’ novel “The Girl at the Lion d’Or” as a five-part series and, with Duncan Abel, wrote “When I Lost You,” both for Radio 4.
Support for WGCU’s arts & culture reporting comes from the Estate of Myra Janco Daniels, the Charles M. and Joan R. Taylor Foundation, and Naomi Bloom in loving memory of her husband, Ron Wallace.