I think this idea is very promising, specifically because it's not a terribly well known film; I think people recall the title itself more so than any specific scenes or dialogue or story. I'm also assuming that the creators will not decide to simply transcribe the screenplay to the stage and add songs, but rather truly adapt the property for the stage and make it something new.
It's the story of three young women (late teens/early 20's, I think) who are spending the summer working at the eponymous pizza shop in Mystic, CT. We follow their various romantic travails and see how this particular summer changes them and sparks them to make choices and move on with their lives. Terrific musicals have been made from much less.
At minimum, we'll have a new Yazbek score containing three nice roles for young women. I'll be curious to see if the producers decide to hire younger, unknown actresses for the leads or if they go with older, more experienced names and we have another show with actresses in their late 20's or early 30's trying to play younger. If it was me, I'd be tempted to see if I could create 3 new stars and, perhaps, end up with the equivalent of 3 Ben Platts. Of course, Platt already had quite a resume before DEAR EVAN HANSEN, but I don't think even most people who follow theatre would have heard of him.
One problem...it's going to be a hell of thing at Tony time. If multiple leading ladies from MYSTIC PIZZA get nominated for Best Actress, that practically guarantees that someone else will win. |
