Patrick Leonard Talks Working With Richard Simmons on 'Interactive' Broadway Musical

Before Richard Simmons passed away, he and composer Patrick Leonard were hard at work on a Broadway musical based on his life.

In a new interview with People, Leonard recalled his collaboration process with the fitness personality: "The workflow was very simple because Richard would just send me a lyric idea and I would write to it and send it back to him. We didn't even really have to discuss it much, just jumped right into it.”

The musical was planned to be an interactive experience, with participation from audience members. In a post on his X account before his death, Simmons revealed "The seats on the ground floor will be removed so people can work out to some of the musical numbers in the show."

“We hadn't discussed it specifically, but it would've been probably early on in the show. What he was doing was playing music and having people exercise to it. And it was really that fundamental and that simple," Leonard said.

Without Simmons, Leonard reveals "there's a plan to proceed, and that's about all I know right now. I think there's a lot of moving pieces as a result of this tragic occurrence...What's important is that it remains true to him."

Earlier this year, Simmons exclusively told BroadwayWorld "I am so excited about the prospect of my own Broadway show.  I have so many ideas and I’m writing them all down. I have seen so many Broadway shows that I’m actually sharing on my social media all this week. Broadway is in my blood!"

Simmons passed away at his home on July 13.

Read the full interview at People and BroadwayWorld's original report HERE.

Photo Courtesy of richardsimmons.com