Director Amy Heckerling Gives CLUELESS: THE MUSICAL Update; Taylor Louderman, Wesley Taylor to Star?
By: Caryn Robbins May. 11, 2016
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In an all-new interview with MTV, director Amy Heckerling gives an update on the progress of Clueless: THE MUSICAL, the new musical production eyeing a Broadway run in the near future.
"It's a jukebox musical," explains Heckerling. "It's as if the '90s was one year, and we're taking songs from the '90s and playing with the lyrics to make them tell the story. We just had a sing-through/read-through the other day, and it went really well. They're just wonderful young actors. A lot of them are coming [to the retrospective]."
The director went on to reveal the cast who has participated in the recent readings, sharing, "Well, they're all young people. At this [recent] reading, we had the boy from Heathers [Dave Thomas Brown] and the girl from Bring It On [Taylor Louderman], and they were wonderful. At the last reading, we had Wally [Wallace] Shawn playing himself, the teacher [from the film version]. Asked if Mr. Shawn may wind up in the Broadway production, Heckerling exclaims, "God willing!"
Regarding a time table for the project, she offers, "It's Broadway. The studios have been completely 100 percent dotting i's and [crossing] t's - that's an expression nobody uses anymore, because nobody writes - but nobody wants to start renting stages yet, because nobody likes to spend money until there's no way anything could go wrong. But the producers did Jersey Boys and Urinetown - they're very big, mega-successful musicals."
Read the interview in full HERE
Louderman has also been posting about the Clueless reading on social media recently, as has Broadway's Wesley Taylor (THE ADDAMS FAMILY, SMASH) who tweeted the photo below:
This week I became an official fanatic of @taylizlou #CluelessTheMusical pic.twitter.com/T4D87LKoEi
- Wesley Taylor (@WesTayTay) May 7, 2016
Last June, BWW reported that Heckerling confirmed the musical project to Entertainment Tonight, sharing, "I've written...the book and it's a jukebox musical." ROCK OF AGES stage director Kristin Hanggi will helm the adaptation when it comes to fruition, with Dodger Theatricals, behind mega-successes JERSEY BOYS and the original production of INTO THE WOODS, producing.
Released in 1995 and now celebrating its 20th anniversary, Clueless is based on Jane Austen's 1815 novel Emma. It stars Alicia Silverstone in the lead role, Stacey Dash, Paul Rudd andBrittany Murphy. The film is set in the town ofBeverly Hills and was written and directed by Amy Heckerling and produced by Scott Rudin, it was released in the United States on July 19, 1995. The film spun off a television sitcom and a series of books.
The film became a surprise sleeper hit of 1995, grossing well over $11 million on its opening weekend #2 behind Apollo 13, and it eventually grossed $55 million during its theatrical run. It was the 32nd highest-grossing film of 1995 and brought the then-largely-unknown actress Alicia Silverstone to international attention. It also developed a strong cult following after its release.
Photo Credit: Walter McBride / WM Photos
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