News from the world of show business falls into two categories. Some new projects are announced because they're actually about to happen. Others are publicized because they aren't. The people behind them have some of the elements necessary to make their new endeavor a reality but not all of them. They're lacking financing or a star or distribution or something…and they hope that the announcement will cause the missing piece(s) to materialize. If you look back at an old Variety, you'll see items about movies that are about to start shooting or which were "already in production" but never, in fact, went in front of any camera…or TV shows that were "a definite go" and which were never heard of again. These are the "partway-there" projects that were presented as if actually happening by someone hoping to find whatever was necessary to make them actually happen.
It's sometimes easy to tell the real announcements from the hopeful ones, sometimes hard. And of course, there are projects in the second category that do eventually manage to become real…but they weren't at the time they were announced. To survive in and around this business, you have to develop a decent sense of what's definite and what's wishful. I've had pretty good luck turning down involvement in things that weren't going to happen. That's because I follow an old Show Biz maxim that I made up: If it's at all doubtful, it's highly doubtful.
Today, it was announced that a musical comedy version of the Jerry Lewis movie, The Nutty Professor, is "heading for Broadway" with Jer himself directing. Here's the announcement and I'm putting this one in the "wishful" category. It's actually not a bad idea at all for a musical but look at where they are. They have no composer or lyricist. Those are not minor details when you're putting on a musical. They also aren't announcing the name of the book writer(s) yet, which does not suggest Mr. Lewis is working with anyone with any experience at all in doing a musical. They hope to do a tryout at the Old Globe in San Diego in 2007 but apparently, no one's bothered to tell the Old Globe about this. It's a little late to be booking for '07, plus a brand-new musical by new people will probably need more outta-town tryouts than a few weeks in San Diego before it'll be Manhattan-ready.
If this show is ever going to happen — and I'm not saying it can't — it's going to have to take on some heavyweight investors and some producers and other behind-the-scenes people with Broadway chops. Since it seems to have neither yet, I'd say the announcement is intended to perhaps shake some loose, get some interested. It will especially need a director who's done this kind of thing before. Mel Brooks did not direct the stage version of The Producers, after all, and he had more stage experience than Jerry Lewis.
Let's watch how this one develops. It just might…but it's got a long way to go before it gets anywhere near the Great White Way.