The Village People, the biggest boy band of the disco era, are the subject of a new Broadway musical.
The only trouble is, the first draft is like Ethel Merman’s infamous disco album — a train wreck.
A reading of the show, which is fashioned around such perennials as “Macho Man” and “In the Navy,” was done a couple of months ago for potential backers and theater owners.
And though they formed letters in the air with their arms as the cast sang “Y.M.C.A.,” they sat with their arms folded during the book scenes.
“The story tripped it up,” a veteran producer says. “They’ve got something — who doesn’t love those songs? — but it needs a lot of work.”
The story, such as it is, centers on two French composers and producers, Jacques Morali and Henri Belolo, who created the Village People. They wrote the catchy tunes and, in the ’70s, arrived in Greenwich Village, where they rounded up the band with an advertisement in the Village Voice that read: “Macho types wanted: Must Dance and Have a Moustache.”
Despite the chilly reception from the Broadway big shots, Belolo and his collaborators haven’t given up on the show. They’ve gone back to the drawing board to hash out a new script. (Morali died in 1991.)
“Y.M.C.A.” alone has sold more than 10 million records.
As one source points out, the Village People’s songs hit the bull’s-eye with Broadway’s core audience: middle-aged women and gay men.
Not to put too much pressure on James Lapine, but boy, oh boy are people excited about his stage adaptation of Moss Hart’s “Act One,” which he’s doing for Lincoln Center Theater.
My column about it Wednesday generated a blizzard of e-mails from people who adore that book. And many had suggestions as to whom should play Hart and his writing partner, George S. Kaufman.
Several people said they were planning to go to Martha’s Vineyard this weekend for the reading. (Add some extra chairs, James!)
Laurence Maslon, who edited the Library of America’s edition of Kaufman’s plays, puts forth Jeremy Shamos, one of the stars of “Clybourne Park,” as Hart and Jeff Goldblum as Kaufman.
Joe Westerfield suggests Christian Borle for Hart (an inspired suggestion) and Matthew Broderick for Kaufman.
And Janet Mahoney thinks Bobby Cannavale would be a great Hart (and a very fit one!), and picks Philip Seymour Hoffman for Kaufman — not, she adds, because he looks like the tall, wiry playwright, but because Hoffman’s “one of today’s greatest actors.”
(I like the rhythm of it: Philip S. Hoffman as George S. Kaufman.)
By the way, since it’s summer and everybody needs a good book to curl up with in the hammock, here are a pair of theater books that have a special place in my library:
* “The Street Where I Live,” Alan Jay Lerner’s witty, behind-the-scenes look at the creation of “My Fair Lady,” “Camelot” and “Gigi.” You’ll never be able to look at Rex Harrison in a movie again without thinking about his embarrassing habit of breaking wind during “The Rain in Spain.”
* “Watchman, What of the Night?,” producer Jed Harris’ juicy account of the play “The Heiress,” which he turned from a flop into a Broadway hit. He settles plenty of scores, especially with the reigning critics of the day.