We continue to watch in fascination (but with increasingly less skepticism) the plans by Jerry Lewis to direct a Broadway musical based on his classic movie, The Nutty Professor.
When first we heard of it, he seemed to have the idea, a star, the absolute determination that the show would open soon…and nothing else. No writer, no composer, no theater, no nothing. He later picked up a pretty accomplished writer in Rupert Holmes and a pretty impressive composer in Marvin Hamlisch and I'm assuming he has some sort of funding from somewhere. Now, according to this article, he's about to start casting…with plans to open the show in New York in October or November.
What doesn't he have? Well, he doesn't seem to have a theater yet. That's no small omission. (He says he's meeting soon with James Nederlander, who controls most of the theaters in N.Y. and that he wants the Marquis, which is where he did Damn Yankees. That's not impossible but he's not going to get it soon. The new Twyla Tharp musical featuring the music of Frank Sinatra, Come Fly With Me, is opening at the Marquis on March 1 for an open-ended booking. That means no one knows how long it'll be playing there.)
Lewis also doesn't seem to have plans for out-of-town tryouts anywhere. That's awfully risky.
This thing is starting to feel like it's going to happen…somewhere. Betcha he books it into some regional theater soon…or maybe a tour. And if it does well there…
Thanks to Tom Galloway for letting me know about the article.