'Almost Famous' Musical to Open on Broadway This Fall
Right after the revival of Creem magazine, more welcoming news comes for fans of the aughts film Almost Famous. A musical adaptation of the Cameron Crowe movie is set to open its curtains on a Broadway stage this fall.
The adaptation, which Crowe wrote the book and lyrics for, will begin previews at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre on October 3, with the official premiere set for a month later, per the production’s website.
Jeremy Herrin (People, Places and Things) will direct the production, with Tom Kitt (Jagged Little Pill) contributing original music and lyrics. It’s been four years since Crowe and Kitt first teased an Almost Famous musical: In September 2018 Crowe posted a 20-second video of Tom Kitt playing piano with clues displayed on the wall.
A version of the production first premiered in San Diego to open the Old Globe Theatre’s 2019-2020 season to critical acclaim. Fittingly, much of Almost Famous takes place in the same Southern California area where the musical first premiered.
The plot of the movie chronicles Crowe's teenage years in the 1970s. It sees a high-school boy named William Miller following a fictional rock band as they go on tour. An aspiring journalist, he is given the chance to write a story for Rolling Stone magazine about the up-and-coming band. However, he must put up with the band's neglect of him, as well as a budding crush on a groupie named Penny Lane.
The original movie starred Billy Crudup, Patrick Fugit, Kate Hudson, Frances McDormand, Zooey Deschanel, and more. The cast for the Broadway production includes: Chris Wood as Russell Hammond, Anika Larsen as Elaine Miller, Solea Pfeiffer as Penny Lane, Drew Gehling as Jeff Bebe, and Casey Likes as William Miller. Crowe told Rolling Stone about his experience of finding a new cast for the musical.
“This cast came together over a period of years, and when we played the show in San Diego, it was an incredibly emotional experience,” Crowe said. “I was there nightly to watch, it felt like following a band you love. We all stayed close through the pandemic. It’s such a statement that nearly the entire cast was able to come back to tell the story. Someone said to me the other day, ‘Was it always your dream as a kid to write a musical for Broadway?’ All I could think was, my dream as a kid was to afford buying records and to get an article published in Rolling Stone. Everything after that has been a rollercoaster and a gift that came from loving music...which coincidentally, is kind of what the play is about.”
Finally, a small taste of the musical's vibe has been released to the public. The production released a visual for their song "Everybody's Coming Together." It shows the rehearsal process for the show, as well as some cast bonding experiences and behind-the-scenes moments.
Check out “Everybody’s Coming Together” below.
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Article Image: Actors playing William Miller (left) and Penny Lane (right) rehearse a song from the "Almost Famous" musical. (Almost Famous the Musical via YouTube.)