Wow, I had no idea this was even on the horizon.
It was just announced that Diner is coming to Broadway fall 2012.
I’m from the Baltimore area and Diner was and is still one of my all time favorite movies ever. If you haven’t seen it, try to. It’s wonderful.
The book is by Barry Levinson who wrote and directed the original film with music and lyrics by Sheryl Crow and directed and choreographed by Tony Award winner Kathleen Marshall.
The musical is “inspired” by the 1982 film and marks the Broadway début of both Levinson and Crow. Prior to its Broadway debut, Diner will play a limited out-of-town engagement that summer in a city yet to be announced.
No casting has been announced yet. The story, at least in the original, begins Christmas 1959 in Baltimore, MD. Six high school buddies, now in their twenties, reunite as the one of the group is about to tie the knot. Trying to deal with their new responsibilities, the group has awkwardly stumbled into adulthood and the only place they can make sense of their new lives is at their old hangout, The Fells Point Diner.
Diner was Levinson’s directing début, and he received an Academy Award nomination for his original screenplay. The film starred and basically started the careers of Kevin Bacon, Ellen Barkin, Tim Daly, Steve Guttenberg, Paul Reiser, Mickey Rourke and Daniel Stern.
“Diner was a pivotal moment in my career, and since then I have continued to live with the characters, realizing there is much more to their story,” said Levinson. “I’m excited to be embarking on this stage version, which affords me the opportunity as a storyteller to expand on my original vision and let the characters express their innermost feeling and thoughts through song.”
“I was already a huge fan of Diner when Barry first approached me about writing a score for a theatrical re-telling of his film. I knew exactly who these men and women were and I feverishly began writing,” said Crow, “Writing the score for DINER has been the most challenging and fulfilling experience of my career. I have always been a devotee and student of musical theatre, and I am very excited to be making this journey with Barry and Kathleen.”
“I am absolutely thrilled to be working on Diner with one of my favorite filmmakers and one of my favorite recording artists.” Said Kathleen Marshall, “Barry Levinson is a legendary writer, director and producer, and in his book for the musical of DINER, he has enriched and deepened those characters we know and love so well from his celebrated screenplay. Sheryl Crow is a brilliant singer, songwriter and performer, and her score for DINER is original, theatrical and completely thrilling. I can’t wait to bring the work of these two great artists to Broadway!”
