The tour bus for Cameron Crowe‘s Oscar-winning film Almost Famous will be rolling through Broadway this fall! The musical adaptation of the film will launch previews on September 13, Deadline reports, with its official opening night scheduled for October 11. Penny Lane and rock ‘n’ roll band Stillwater return, but this time they’re moving from San Diego to the Shubert Theatre stage in Manhattan.
Almost Famous the Musical shared a behind-the-scenes clip to Twitter showing off the cast in full costume, set to one of the songs featured in the play, ‘Everybody’s Coming Together.’ The cast members are seen lounging together backstage idly strumming guitars, throwing up peace signs and swirling their fur-lined coats. They look like they were plucked straight from a hot summer in the ’70s. At the end of the clip the cast boards a tour bus, giving fans a sneak peek of each character, before “Next Stop Broadway” is scrawled across the screen.
The musical is based off of Crowe’s semi-autobiographical 2000 film Almost Famous that follows William Miller (Patrick Fugit), a teenage writer who accompanies a rock ‘n’ roll band on tour in the early ’70s in hopes of becoming a musical journalist for Rolling Stone. After being dubbed The Enemy by Stillwater’s lead singer Jeff Bebe (Jason Lee), Will spends the rest of the journey proving he’s a real fan only seeking the truth. Along the way he meets rock stars like guitarist Russell Hammond (Billy Crudup), groupies and the love of his life, Penny Lane (Kate Hudson).
Crowe, who both wrote and directed the film, co-wrote the lyrics for the musical’s songs, and while the musical will be mostly original songs, including Stillwater’s ‘Fever Dog,’ it will also feature hit songs fans will recognize. Some of the songs include Led Zeppelin’s ‘Ramble On’ and ‘Whole Lotta Love,’ David Bowie’s ‘It Ain’t Easy,’ Lynyrd Skynyrd‘s ‘Simple Man,’ and – fans rejoice – Elton John‘s ‘Tiny Dancer.’ Music for the musical is written by Tom Kitt who also collaborated with Crowe on the song lyrics.
Almost Famous the Musical is directed by Jeremy Herrin and was choreographed by Sarah O’Gleby. The Broadway company features Casey Likes in his Broadway debut as William Miller, Chris Wood as Russell Hammond, Solea Pfeiffer as Penny Lane, Drew Gehling as Jeff Bebe, Arika Larsen as Elaine Miller and Rob Colletti as Lester Bangs. The cast will also include Matt Bittner, Chad Burris, Gerard Canonico, Julia Cassandra, Brandon Contreras, Emily Schultheis, Jakeim Hart, Van Hughes, Jana Djenne Jackson, Katie Ladner, Danny Lindgren, Daniel Sovich, Erica Mansfield, Alisa Melendez, Libby Winters, and Matthew C. Yee.
Check out Almost Famous the Musical’s Twitter post below:
