Big Broadway news from the Wall Street Journal: Legendary comedian Jerry Lewis has announced that his latest project, a Broadway musical of his classic film The Nutty Professor, will come to the Great White Way this year.
Lewis will direct, but not appear in, the adaptation of the 1963 movie, which he co-wrote, directed and starred in as Julius Kelp, a bumbling professor who invents a love potion. He also doubled as Buddy Love, a suave womanizer (reportedly based on Lewis' frequent partner Dean Martin, though Lewis always denied the connection). Eddie Murphy starred in a remake of the movie in 1996.
The musical is planned to open in November, and will have music by Marvin Hamlisch (“A Chorus Line”), book by Rupert Holmes (“The Mystery of Edwin Drood”) and choreography by Kathleen Marshall (recent Broadway revivals of “Anything Goes” and “The Pajama Game”).
No word yet on which theater will get the show, but tickets will most likely be available at www.telecharge.com or www.ticketmaster.com.