'Cause this is Thriller – Thriller matinee?'
It looks like the zombies of Michael Jackson’s legendary album and hit single "Thriller"are shifting dayside and trading the graveyard for Broadway.
Get ready for "Thriller the Musical.”
James L. Nederlander confirmed Monday that his organization had acquired the rights to feature songs from both "Thriller"– the best-selling album of all time – and "Off the Wall"in a new theatrical production.
The story, he said, is made for the Broadway stage "Girl meets boy, they fall in love, boy has major secret and let’s see what happens from there.
It’s a lot of singing, a lot of dancing and a good story line,"Nederlander said.
The album and landmark John Landis music video celebrated their 25th anniversaries in 2008 – prompting a reissue of the album and special screening of "Michael Jackson: Making Michael Jackson's 'Thriller'" at the Tribeca Film Festival.
And the King of Pop apparently wants to keep the "Thriller" legacy alive.
"Michael was interested in doing something a little more with "Thriller"and he came to me to see if there was any interest and I said, 'Very much so.’ Now it’s time to put the creative team together,"Nederlander said.
The reclusive pop star will be very hands on in the show’s production, according to both Nederlander and Jackson’s rep – and may even attend auditions for the show’s casting.
Expect to see the production onstage in about a year-and-a-half to two years, Nederlander said, but not in New York City – or at least not right away. The production will kick off somewhere out-of-town and later make its way to a Nederlander theater, he said.
And it will likely have a ready audience eager to buy tickets: the troupe of "Thriller"devotees who have perform the video’s choreography each year at the annual Village Halloween Parade.
The show will be based on the 1983 music video directed by filmmaker Landis, the creative mind behind a string of late 1970s and early 1980s comedy hits including "Animal House," "The Blues Brothers," and "Coming to America."
Landis later directed Jackson’s video for the song "Black or White" in 1991.
"Thriller" was the first music video of its kind – the 14-minute short film was a horror spoof in which a young couple’s date is disrupted when the young man – Jackson – turns into a werewolf.
It will be the latest in a string of pop music hits to make the jump from Billboard charts to the Broadway stage.
The past few years have brought musicals about Elvis Presley ("All Shook Up"2005), The Beach Boys ("Good Vibrations"2005), John Lennon ("Lennon"2005), Bob Dylan ("The Times They Are A Changin’"2006), and Johnny Cash ("Ring of Fire"2006).
For the most part, these shows flopped. "Lennon"and "Ring of Fire"each closed after about six weeks. "Good Vibrations"got two months and "All Shook Up"ran for four months.
So will "Thriller" fare any better?
"If it can reach you in the heart, I think we have a shot," Nederlander said.
BY LAUREN JOHNSTON
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
peace. love. & hhh.
-kk
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