HAROLD & THE PURPLE CRAYON musical coming to Broadway?

I grew up on The Purple Crayon, my kids have well worn copies. But a MUSICAL, and a broadway one at that? Even from the description, it doesn't even SOUND like Harold. And with no writer attached, it could be more than 2 years before it sees the light of day.

I guess time will tell. Maybe it will surprise me and be stunning.

Updated On: 3/11/22 at 04:40 PM

It must be hard to be Harold: to know you peaked literally as a baby, and it’s been downhill ever since.

The in-development stage adaptation of Crockett Johnson's 1955 children's book Harold and the Purple Crayon has found its book writers in playwright Dan Rothenberg and Robert Quillen Camp. The pair joins a writing team that includes Jack and Ryan Met of indie pop rock band AJR, who are handling the score.

Both Rothenberg and Camp are alum of Philadelphia's Pig Iron Theatre Company, where Rothenberg serves as co-founder and co-artistic director and at which Camp has collaborated on such works as Chekhov Lizardbrain, Pay Up, and Franklin's Secret City. Camp also co-wrote All Hands for Hoi Polloi Theater Company with Great Comet composer Dave Malloy; and White on White, which recently premiered Off-Broadway at JACK.

The Broadway-aimed project, adapted from Johnson's classic book about a young boy who uses a magical crayon to create the world around him, transforms from the book's four-year-old hero into a young adult facing real-life problems, many of which may fall outside the abilities of that magical crayon. The work is being led by Jagged Little Pill producer Vivek J. Tiwary's Tiwary Entertainment Group (TEG+).

https://www.playbill.com/article/harold-and-the-purple-crayon-stage-musical-finds-its-book-writers