The 1985 teen comedy Girls Just Want to Have Fun is getting a stage musical adaptation. The film starred Sarah Jessica Parker as Janey, a high school gymnast whose strict Army colonel father keeps her under lock and key. But when she moves to a new town and meets a bold and exciting new best friend, Lynne (Helen Hunt), she disobeys her dad for the first time to enter a TV dance competition. Although the movie wasn’t a box office hit, it eventually became a cult favorite.
Jennifer Werner, who worked on The Book of Mormon, has signed on to direct. M. Dickson (How I Met Your Father, Superstore) is teaming with Lauren Marcus (Tick, Tick… Boom) to co-write the musical’s book, with music and lyrics expected to be mainly sourced from Primary Wave’s catalog of pop favorites.
Producer Lively McCabe’s CEO Michael Barra said of the project:
“This is a dream project that our team has been working on securing for quite some time, so we’re immensely grateful to Amy Spies for entrusting us with her iconic story and characters and for her collaboration on bringing them to the stage. And to be able to partner with this brilliant trio of creators as well as our friends at Primary Wave with their incredible catalog of 80s chart-toppers, is just icing on the cake.”
Executive producer Michael Barra and associate producer Allison Bressi will oversee for Lively McCabe, alongside Primary Wave’s Natalia Nastaskin and Ramon Villa. They will work closely with Spies to bring her story to the stage. Spies said, “I am excited that this great team is bringing to the stage my story of empowering female friendships and young women coming into their own.”
I loved this movie growing up, and it seems like a no-brainer for a stage musical. It will be a ton of fun for fans of the theatre.
via: Variety
