Is it even right to call ‘movies turning into musicals’ a trend anymore? Hasn’t it just become business as usual at this point?
Well, the latest entry in this business as usual will be A Fish Called Wanda, and it’s got some interesting talent behind the scenes. John Cleese worked with his daughter Camilla to write the book of the show, and they’ve brought in Bill Bailey to help write some of the songs. Cleese tells Empire: ‘Soon, we’ll start to work on the songs for the show with Bill Bailey, who, among his many achievements, is an honourary member of the Society of Crematorium Organists. This musical is destined to be a hit amongst funeral directors.’
Americans may not be too familiar with Bailey – outside of his appearance as the twin desk sergeants in Hot Fuzz and as Bilbo, Tim’s comic store boss, in Spaced – but Brits will know Bailey as a very successful stand-up who often uses music and does musical parodies in his act. He apparently also has perfect pitch!
Cleese bringing in Bailey seems like a good sign to me. And I’m excited for a song about stuttering – the last one I can think of came from The Who, for the love of god.
A Fish Called Wanda will start off in San Diego before hopefully moving to London’s West End and to Broadway.