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By Patrick Pacheco | An obscure 1997 documentary about Texans trying to win a pick-up truck in an endurance contest hardly seems the basis for a Broadway hit, especially with a softcore porn-style title. But after solid reviews recently rolled in for the world premiere of “Hands on a Hardbody” at the La Jolla Playhouse, the producers announced this week that the musical will be coming to Broadway next season. This will mark the theater debut of Trey Anastasio of Phish (pictured above right, with Neil Pepe), who co-wrote the songs with Broadway veteran Amanda Green (“High Fidelity”). Douglas Wright (“I Am My Own Wife”) adapted the hardscrabble story of ten of his fellow Texans arduously competing to keep one gloved hand on a truck.
Charles McNulty of the Los Angeles Times praised the cast, which includes Keith Carradine, and the show’s “refreshing emotional simplicity.” Still, he said that an “overhaul” is in order. Developed over the last five years, “Hands on a Hardbody” will continue to undergo changes under the direction of Neil Pepe and musical staging by Benjamin Millepied, best known as the “Black Swan” choreographer who married that movie’s star, Natalie Portman.
“Hands” continues at the Playhouse through June 17th. But those who like their musicals with a pop beat will have no lack of opportunities in the upcoming season. First up will be “Here Lies Love,” the David Byrne-Fatboy Slim musical about Imelda Marcos which has a showcase run June 21-24 at MASSMoCA. (The Public Theater earlier announced that it would present the musical in early 2013.) The show, which tells the story of the notorious, shoe-loving Filipina First Lady and Estrella Cumpas, the woman who raised her, is based on a 2010 concept compilation album on which the songs are rendered by artists including Florence Welch, Tori Amos, and Cyndi Lauper.
Speaking of Lauper, producer Daryl Roth said at last week’s New Dramatists’ tribute to Bernadette Peters that the pop star had recently finished writing the songs for the new Broadway musical based on the 2005 movie “Kinky Boots.” Roth tapping Harvey Fierstein (“Hairspray,” “Newsies”) to write the book was a no-brainer. After all, this is a story about a financially beleaguered shoe factory owner whose business is saved by a chance encounter with a drag queen named Lola. The musical, directed and choreographed by Jerry Mitchell, will have a pre-Broadway tryout in Chicago this fall.
And from drag queens to pink robots: The Flaming Lips, who just released “The Flaming Lips and Fwends” album, will launch a tour to coincide with the release their next studio album and a new musical, “Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots.” The show, which will include songs from the group’s other albums, is slated to play the La Jolla Playhouse in late fall. Des McAnuff (“Jersey Boys”) has been developing the fantastical musical about a Japanese artist since 2007 with the group’s frontman Wayne Coyne. Aaron Sorkin (“Social Network”) had also been involved but has since dropped out. While Broadway has hardly been hospitable to pop composers lately — Dave Stewart (Eurythmics) and Glenn Ballard got the back of its hand for “Ghost” — it does have its compensations. Despite not one but two critical lambastings, “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark”, with songs by Bono and The Edge, took in $1.5 million at the box office last week.
Image: Neil Pepe and Trey Anastasio / Terri Rippee and Aidan Schultz-Meyer
