Ogres & vampires
H'wood hits 'Shrek,' 'Blonde' headed to B'way
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- Following its "Beauty and the Beast" and "The Lion King," Disney Theatrical plans "Tarzan" this spring, "Mary Poppins" next season and "The Little Mermaid" the season after that.
- DreamWorks Animation aims a musical "Shrek" for the 2007-08 season. Sam Mendes is involved and scripter is David Lindsay-Abaire. DreamWorks also has licensed "Catch Me If You Can" to be musicalized by Marc Shaiman & Scott Wittman.
- MGM on Stage has a hand in "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" and "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels," with more properties on the way, among them "Legally Blonde," "The Thomas Crown Affair," "Heartbreakers" and "Get Shorty."
- New Line is chasing "Hairspray" with "The Wedding Singer," which lands in Gotham this spring. Expect more tuners from the studio, including "Secondhand Lions," "Saving Grace" and "Don Juan deMarco."
- Universal funded two-thirds of the $14 million "Wicked" and likely will have money in "Billy Elliot: The Musical" if it jetees from the West End to Broadway.
- WB has sired Warner Bros. Theater Ventures, which this spring plans Elton John's vampire tuner "Lestat," adapted from the Anne Rice novel.
Other movie-property musical adaptations in the planning stages include "Dr. Dolittle," "Nine to Five," "The First Wives Club" and "But I'm a Cheerleader." The list goes on.
Many of these can be simple licensing deals, as with the new musical "The Color Purple," preeming on Broadway in December. Stage rights were held by Warner before lead producer Scott Sanders bargained for them.
