A team of producers including Hollywood regular Frank Marshall is developing a new musical centered around the tunes of Jimmy Buffett, with a story by Greg Garcia, the creator of TV shows including “My Name Is Earl,” and Mike O’Malley, whose face is familiar from acting gigs in “Glee” and “Yes, Dear,” another series created by Garcia.
Christopher Ashley, the director of Broadway Tony winner “Memphis” and the artistic director of the La Jolla Playhouse in San Diego, will direct. No plot details have yet been set, but the story will be inspired by the island-escape party vibe beloved by Parrotheads, as Buffet’s legion of fans call themselves. A title hasn’t been announced yet either, although it would seem a shocker if the show isn’t called “Margaritaville,” the name of one of Buffett’s best-known songs.
Marshall, the prolific screen producer of films including “Back to the Future,” “Raiders of the Lost Ark” and the recent “Jurassic World,” has previously dipped a toe into Broadway producing with Buffett. The two of them, under the banner Parrothead Productions, have producing credits on recent Broadway titles “Doctor Zhivago” and “Big Fish.”
Marshall has teamed with Mindy Rich, Anita Waxman and Beth Williams, the lead producer of upcoming Broadway musical “Tuck Everlasting,” for the new musical. Buffett’s work seems a logical choice for a large-scale Broadway outing, since the the singer-songwriter comes to the table with fervent, older-skewing fans who fall right into the target demo for Broadway ticketbuyers.
The show’s proposed timeline has the musical bowing in 2017. No exact date or venue has been set, although the La Jolla Playhouse, the theater run by Ashley, looks like a logical choice for a pre-Broadway tryout.
