Following Barry Levinson‘s “Diner” and more recently, Woody Allen‘s “Bullets Over Broadway” in their transition from celluloid to the Broadway stage, comes the most unlikeliest candidate yet: John Landis‘ “Animal House” starring John Belushi.
The comic actor passed away 30 years ago today (R.I.P.) and what better way to honor his memory than to turn the godfather of raunchy comedy into a big musical show? Well, The New York Times reports that Universal Pictures Stage Productions are plowing ahead with the plans for “Animal House: The Musical,” with Mom-approved Canadian rockers The Barenaked Ladies hired to pen the music. Wait, what? Yeah, that’s right, that wholesome quartet (who dropped the former lead singer Steven Page over his sudden/random cocaine drug arrest) will bring to life Bluto and all his pals to life in song, because who better to be tasked with that gig than a bunch of squeaky clean dudes who owe half of their career to Cancon regulations. And oh, Michael Mitnick will write a libretto for this thing as well.
But perhaps it’s not all bad as Casey Nicholow, the Tony Award winning director and choreographer of “The Book Of Mormon,” will be on hand to lead “Animal House” so perhaps he’ll be able to rise to the challenge. It’s still early days — no start date has been announced, or a cast for that matter — but it kind of seems like a nobrainer for Nicholow to see if his ‘Mormon’ lead Josh Gad might be interested in taking the role of Bluto.
