We are but days from the opening of the musical version of The Nutty Professor in Nashville. I'm somewhat intrigued by this show, not only because everything Jerry Lewis does is interesting in a Jerry Lewis kind of way but because it isn't following any past conventions. It has always been an unwritten rule of Broadway that a director needs experience in stage productions and he can't be too old…but Jerry is directing. Mel Brooks, who is younger and had more years working on Broadway, was not qualified to direct the musical version of The Producers but Jerry is directing this show. Apart from Rupert Holmes (book and lyrics) and Marvin Hamlisch (music) and an experienced choreographer, this does not seem to be the work of folks with a lot of Broadway cred.
For a long time, it didn't look like this show would ever get on a stage anywhere. Jerry kept announcing try-outs and openings that were obviously not grounded in reality…yet here they are, a week from opening. If I wasn't swamped with deadlines, I might hop on a plane and be there for Opening Night, for which tickets still seem to be available. I wouldn't go to chortle at what doesn't work. I'd go to cheer whatever did because I think it would be great to see this thing succeed. Given how hard it seems to be to secure theaters in New York — at least a dozen shows are currently trying to get in somewhere — it looks like it won't make it to the Great White Way. Then again, it looked like it would never get into a theater anywhere. So who knows?
Here's an article about the production. If Jerry can pull this off, he may well be worthy of that "genius" tag that people like to hang around his neck.