Gwyneth Paltrow’s ski trial musical is going back to where it all began in Utah — and getting a new vocal lead with Glee alum Darren Criss.
Gwyneth Goes Skiing is making its way to Park City, Utah, after a stop at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival this summer, Awkward Productions announced on Monday, February 19. Criss, who acted alongside Paltrow, 51, on Glee, is joining the show’s next rendition on the soundtrack. (Paltrow played Holly Holliday on five episodes of the Fox musical, while Criss, 33, starred as Blaine Anderson from 2010 to 2015.)
Criss will lend his voice for plaintiff Terry Sanderson’s musical numbers, which include “See You in Court” and “I Wish You Well.” Comedian Cat Cohen will sing Paltrow’s songs, which were written by RuPaul’s Drag Race alum Leland. Trixie Mattel will also digitally join the cast as Paltrow’s mother, Blythe Danner, per Variety.
Creators Linus Karp and Joseph Martin will continue to play their roles as Paltrow and Sanderson on stage after a successful run in London last year.
Gwyneth Goes Skiing is a parody musical based on Paltrow’s 2016 skiing accident in Utah involving optometrist Sanderson. In January 2019, Sanderson sued the actress for allegedly crashing into him while on the slopes in Deer Valley, Utah.
He claimed in court documents obtained by Us Weekly that he suffered “a brain injury, four broken ribs and other serious injuries” after Paltrow lost control on the slopes and hit him in the back. Sanderson asked for more than $3 million in damages.
Paltrow issued a statement to Us at the time, denying any wrongdoing. “This lawsuit is completely without merit and we expect to be vindicated,” she said in response. Paltrow then filed a countersuit in February 2019, alleging that she sustained a “full body blow” after Sanderson “plowed into her back.”
The pair faced off in court in March 2023 after a judge lowered Sanderson’s damages request to $300,000. The week-long trial made headlines for a variety of reasons, including Paltrow’s courthouse style and her eyebrow-raising testimony.
During the third day of the trial, Paltrow claimed she initially thought the crash was a sexual assault. “I was skiing and two skis came between my skis forcing my legs apart and then there was a body pressing against me and there was a very strange grunting noise so my brain was trying to make sense of what was happening,” she told the court. “I thought, ‘Is this a practical joke? Is someone doing something perverted? This is really, really strange.’ My mind was going very quickly and I was trying to ascertain what was happening.”
Paltrow won the case after the jury found her not liable. She received $1 in damages.
After the trial, Warner Bros. Discovery UK & Ireland announced in July 2023 that the case would be turned into a docuseries titled Gwyneth vs. Terry: The Ski Crash Trial. Awkward Productions’ Karp and Martin announced their parody musical that October.
“She’s the Goop-founding, Shakespeare-In-Loving, consciously-uncoupling Hollywood superstar. He’s a retired Optometrist from Utah. In 2016, they went skiing,” the creators teased via Instagram at the time. “On the slopes of Deer Valley, their worlds collided and so did they — literally. Ouch. In 2023, they went to court. Double ouch.”
Gwyneth Goes Skiing opened in London in December 2023. The musical concluded a run at Pleasance Theatre on Friday, February 16.
