FLASH FRIDAY: Broadway Rocks! A Slew Of New Musicals Featuring Contemporary Scores Coming Soon - WAITRESS, HAMILTON, AMERICAN PSYCHO, SCHOOL OF ROCK, Bowie & More

By: Pat Cerasaro Apr. 03, 2015

Today we are reviewing the many contemporary scores poised to arrive on Broadway in the near future.

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It all started with HAIR. While the short-lived GOLDEN RAINBOW and HENRY, SWEET HENRY and even Jule Styne's Tony Award-winning Best Musical HALLELUJAH, BABY! in the late-1960s all boasted some memorable sequences showcasing a decidedly pop/rock sound, not to mention the Burt Bacharach/Hal David musical PROMISES, PROMISES and Stephen Sondheim's mod COMPANY, it was not until HAIR took Broadway by storm in 1968 immediately following its super-successful Off-Broadway run that contemporary music as it existed on the radio and on the pop charts was firmly established on the Great White Way in a big way - and, for better and sometimes worse, it has remained a prominent presence there ever since. Although The Who's seminal concept album TOMMY along with Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice's iconic rock opera JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR successfully bridged the genres byway of their hit albums and subsequent stage iterations at the end of the 1960s, HAIR was the first major musical to liberally flaunt its rock n roll attitude - and all the hippies, drugs, nudity, free love and psychedelic accoutrement to go with it. Broadway would never be the same after HAIR, and, with this week's news of a number of new musicals with contemporary scores arriving on Broadway in the coming months - rock, pop and rock all well represented - now is an excellent time to spotlight what we can expect from the musicals that hope to be the modern answer for HAIR to an entirely new, post-millennial generation.

Just this week a number of significant news items have related to the pronounced presence of modern music in the properties eyeing the stage in the coming season, first and foremost being the new musical by multi-Tony Award-winning IN THE HEIGHTS actor and performer Lin-Manuel Miranda all about the life of legendary American patriot Andrew Hamilton titled HAMILTON. The rap-based musical just received a record-breaking 12 Lucille Lortel Award nominations for its sold-out run downtown at the Public Theater, as it prepares to officially transfer to Broadway early next season with a reported advance already surpassing $10 million. Surely, the man behind IN THE HEIGHTS tackling a major part of American history is a cause celebre and positions Miranda as a front-runner for the Pulitzer Prize according to many prognosticators and entertainment enthusiasts of late. Given the rave reviews and audience adulation - not to mention the rapturous standing ovations being received by the cast every single night - it is certainly not an overstatement to call HAMILTON a readymade hit. But, what of the rest of the pop/rock/rap crop?

Besides HAMILTON, two other new musicals with pop-based scores are angling for mainstage debuts in 2015 and early 2016, as well - both the Sara Bareilles-penned screen-to-stage adaptation of cult indie favorite WAITRESS as well as Tony Award-winning SPRING AWAKENING composer Duncan Sheik's musical version of the popular Bret Easton Ellis tome AMERICAN PSYCHO are preparing for major productions very soon. While Bareilles's WAITRESS will debut in Boston at the American Repertory Theater's home base at Harvard University in August, Sheik's AMERICAN PSYCHO musical will make its stateside premiere directly on Broadway in February 2016 following its 2013 London run at the Almeida Theatre according to a recent casting notice. Then, there is the brand new musical from one of the very men who had a hand in bringing current radio trends into the theatre in the first place, Andrew Lloyd Webber, with his stage version of Richard Linklater's hit music-based film SCHOOL OF ROCK - complete with a handful of brand new songs composed by Lloyd Webber alongside lyricist Glenn Slater, to boot. SCHOOL OF ROCK is set to hit Broadway in December, opening cold without any sort of pre-Broadway tryout, further evidencing its ballsy and brash rock n roll auspices of the audacious enterprise. Despite the fact that a Broadway run did not prove fortuitous for pop hitmaker Sting with his musical THE LAST SHIP earlier this season, clearly these new musicals are hoping for better luck when they arrive. Plus, it was also revealed this week that rock royalty David Bowie himself is currently at work on a stage piece, as well, titled LAZARUS and based on the science fiction film THE MAN WHO FELL TO EARTH in which he famously starred - though it has not yet been revealed to what extent the proposed New York Theater Workshop piece will incorporate music, although it seems more than merely likely that it will truly rock given the creator.

Between Bareilles, Sheik, Lloyd Webber, Bowie and Miranda Broadway has more than its fair share of considerable talent making a bid to bring Broadway firmly into the 21st century and represent the sounds, style, attitude and aura of a 2015 audience with the musicals premiering in the next year. Could one of them even manage to have a breakout radio hit? With GLEE off the air and a new major movie musical many months away from hitting the screen, the field is certainly wide open - so, to crib a phrase from America's other favorite pastime besides rock n roll, play ball.
Totally F*cked
Now, let's take a look back at some of the most memorable musicals with contemporary scores while looking ahead to the new offerings coming up in the new season.
First, HAIR is introduced to America on THE SMOTHERS BROTHERS in 1968 - and everything changed.

Next, The Who bring TOMMY to legendary rock n roll festival Woodstock in 1969.
Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice's JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR rocks the Bible in a fresh, daring way.
Take a look at hitmakers Burt Bacharach and Hal David's sole Broadway musical, PROMISES, PROMISES.
GOLDEN RAINBOW brings some contemporary sounds to the Tony Awards, along with Steve & Eydie.
Stephen Sondheim himself utilized contemporary sounds for his inventive concept musical COMPANY.
More recently, pop/rock icon Paul Simon tried his hand at Broadway with THE CAPEMAN.
Sting similarly suffered a short run with this season's THE LAST SHIP.
Billy Joel's MOVIN' OUT made a hit dance musical out his many hits thanks to Twyla Tharp.
Pop/rock revues remain highly popular on Broadway, such as the Four Seasons-themed JERSEY BOYS.
And, of course, ABBA musical mega-hit MAMMA MIA! continues to pack them in, more than 10 years on.

The ABBA boys also found 1980s success with the singles from CHESS, like "One Night In Bangkok".

BEAUTIFUL: THE CAROLE KING MUSICAL is another current example of the hit pop revue.

NEXT TO NORMAL is a Pulitzer Prize-winning rock musical to stand proudly alongside RENT.

Plus, Elton John has had several hit shows with original rock/pop-based scores, such as THE LION KING.

The most influential and noted rock musical since HAIR is decidedly Jonathan Larson's RENT.
Duncan Sheik's SPRING AWAKENING made modern sounds theatrical in much the same way as RENT.
IN THE HEIGHTS showed rap as a powerful and innovative theatrical storytelling tool.
Miranda follows up IN THE HEIGHTS next season with HAMILTON arriving on Broadway.
Sara Bareilles previews her musical version of WAITRESS at a live concert.
David Bowie once played Brecht's BAAL before embarking on his new musical play LAZARUS.

Lastly, SCHOOL OF ROCK's Andrew Lloyd Webber presents Best Musical to RENT.
So, what is your absolute favorite musical with a contemporary score, both old and new? Furthermore, what major pop/rock/rap musical are you anticipating this coming season most of all? With creators this illustrious and properties this potentially rich for adaptation, we have several new musicals arriving very soon that could truly, well, rock.

Photo Credits: The Public Theater, NY Mag

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