Long before "Pumping Iron," "Conan The Barbarian" and "The Terminator," Arnold Schwarzenegger made a little-known low-budget film, shot entirely on location in New York in 1969, entitled "Hercules in New York." Rescued from oblivion, and fully restored, under the direction of Ron Merk, HINY has become a cult classic.
The story of the film is pretty simple and by today's standards downright silly. A defiant Hercules tells his father Zeus, king of the Greek gods on Mt. Olympus, that he plans to visit New York because he's bored with life in the realm of the gods. Zeus is furious and sends a very low-tech thunderbolt in Hercules' direction, which sends Hercules falling into the sea. He is rescued by a freighter, jumps ship in New York, and makes an unlikely friend in Pretzy (a street vendor specializing in pretzels), gets into professional wrestling, but runs into trouble when he loses his strength and some gangsters lose a bet on Hercules. He's chased through Time Square driving a chariot, and is finally sent some help by his father. He then returns to Mt. Olypus, sadder by wiser.
If this isn't the perfect plot for a Broadway stage musical, what is? Of course, there will be some minor changes to the plot. Instead of becoming a wrestler, Hercules will star in a cheesy low budget sci-fi movie about giant bugs from outer space, called "The Ex-terminator," which becomes a huge hit and turns him into an overnight star. His friend Pretzy won't sell pretzels, but instead will be a nerdy computer genius who everyone calls Micro. He invents the home computer and becomes the world's richest man. Instead of just hanging out with the guys in New York, Hercules will meet the very beautiful daughter of a prominent political family, and the two will fall in love. Hercules will become the biggest movie star in the world, and sing about his good luck in his signature song from the show, "There's a place way up on the top for me." After all, Hercules does come from a royal family himself, and there's no reason he shouldn't have grand ambitions. He retires from movies, announces his intention to go into politics and in no time becomes Governor of New York. Only when he aims for the Presidency of the United States does his father Zeus intervene. Zeus thinks Hercules is getting a little too big for his tunic, and demands that Hercules return to Olympus, or lose his earthly family. Hercules relents, because he loves his wife and children, and goes back with them to Olympus, where Zeus puts him in "temporary" charge of things, while Zeus, disguised as a rabbi, flies down to New York for some long-deserved time off. He lands right in the middle of a Jewish wedding, and ends the show with the big dance number called "Kick Up Your Heels." More than 15 songs, and a high-stepping cast add up to a fun-for-all evening in the theater.
Note: Arnold Schwarzenegger is not associated in any way in this production, nor do we expect that he will take singing lessons after his current term as Governor of California concludes. We do hope that he'll be present on opening night to enjoy a good laugh and possibly sing along with the cast.
