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It turns out The Flamingo Kid can sing.
A new stage musical based on the late Garry Marshall’s 1984 movie is in development, producers Bob Israel and Larry Hirschhorn announced Thursday.
The production, featuring book and lyrics by Tony winner Robert L. Freedman (A Gentlemen’s Guide to Love and Murder) and music by Scott Frankel (War Paint), is eyeing a spring 2018 opening on Broadway.
Set in the summer of 1963, Flamingo Kid follows an 18-year-old Brooklynite who leaves behind his blue-collar roots for the alluring world of The El Flamingo, a private beach club for well-to-do Long Islanders, where he joins with a cocky mentor and falls for his niece. However, he learns that there’s no shortcut to lasting success, and no substitute for family.
The Fox film, directed and co-written by Marshall, starred Matt Dillon in a breakout role alongside Janet Jones and Richard Crenna.
Producers say the score will feature the iconic sounds of the era, from doo-wop and R&B to the Cha Cha and the Watusi, as well as a scenic design that reflects the look and feel of summertime at the beach club, complete with an onstage pool.
“Robert and Scott are passionately drawn to this timeless story. By reinterpreting it for the stage, and making it sing, they’re finding new ways to layer the emotional content, and imbue it with a new vibrancy,” said Israel.
Added Hirschhorn: “It’s a valentine to the shimmering beach clubs of a bygone era.”
The Flamingo Kid musical joins Pretty Woman as another Marshall title being adapted for the stage. Following the legendary writer, director and producer’s death earlier this month, producer Paula Wagner said of the Pretty Woman musical, “He took great pride and delight from Pretty Woman and I know he would have wanted us to continue on, and therefore we will bring this story to Broadway. Pretty Woman the musical will be a reminder of his humanity, his heart and his sense of humor.”
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