LMM working on THE WARRIORS musical?

[jacobsnchz14]

Posted: 8/3/23 at 5:10pm

https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Rialto-Chatter-Lin-Manuel-Miranda-Working-On-Musical-Adaptation-Of-THE-WARRIORS-20230803

The NY Post reports that Lin-Manuel Miranda is reportedly in the process of creating a new Broadway musical based on Sol Yurick’s 1965 novel The Warriors. The novel delves into violent gang confrontations in New York City during the 1960s.

The Warriors chronicles one New York City gang's nocturnal journey through the seedy, dangerous subways and city streets of the 1960s. Every gang in the city meets on a sweltering July 4 night in a Bronx park for a peace rally. The crowd of miscreants turns violent after a prominent gang leader is killed and chaos prevails over the attempt at order.

This would be Miranda's first new musical since Hamilton for the stage

Updated On: 8/3/23 at 05:10 PM

[BoringBoredBoard40]

Posted: 8/3/23 at 5:27pm

Literally why, and who is this for? 

[Dom P]

Posted: 8/3/23 at 5:28pm

Well if anyone could make it work based on the source material, it would be Lin-Manuel-Miranda.

[BoringBoredBoard40]

Posted: 8/3/23 at 5:33pm

Turning The Warriors into a musical totally misses the point, the book was written as a explicite response to West Side Story

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 8/3/23 at 5:34pm

BoringBoredBoard40 said: "Literally why”

Because LMM wants to and HAMILTON’s success means he could do literally anything he wants on stage next, at nearly any budget level. And the story probably resonates with him.

 

“and who is this for?"

It’s currently for him, since it’s in its infancy. It may also be for fans, producers/investors, critics, and others, too, but that’s not as important.

This could be one of the most scrutinized and picked-apart followups to a success in the history of Broadway (whether the show is good or bad) and I don’t envy him for taking almost 10 years to try other things before sitting down to write a full musical again. 

Updated On: 8/3/23 at 05:34 PM

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 8/3/23 at 5:37pm

BoringBoredBoard40 said: "Turning The Warriors into a musical totally misses the point, the book was written as a explicite response to West Side Story"

I have no doubt LMM knows that and will be writing it as a response to WSS and the novel and the film and all that’s followed between then and now.

[darquegk]

Posted: 8/3/23 at 5:39pm

I rewatched it recently and I could see it going either way. The era-ambiguous “dystopia next door” and the heightened almost surrealism of it has promise. 

[BMcGregor]

Posted: 8/3/23 at 5:42pm

I'm actually totally intrigued and on board with this. 

[Dom P]

Posted: 8/3/23 at 5:51pm

I'm thinking Lin-Manuel's take will be closer to the source material than Walter Hill's. If I remember correctly the film sparked controversy on its initial release. Interesting trivia bit, a "Warriors" theater billboard appears in a scene in "American Gigolo" when a state senate or congressman aide is confronted by Richard Gere, who the aide is caught tailing unsuccessfully.  

[pethian]

Posted: 8/3/23 at 5:55pm

BMcGregor said: "I'm actually totally intrigued and on board with this."

 

Me too! Especially about what the tone of the piece might be. On one hand it's a 'response' to WSS. Yet it is written by a writer who was asked to create Spanish-language lyrics for the WSS revival, and who adored Steve Sondheim. And then there's Sondheim's own complicated feelings about WSS, Fascinating.

 

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 8/3/23 at 6:30pm

More LMM rapping schtick I personally am not a fan of. Loved the subtle use of it in IN THE HEIGHTS, hated HAMILTON within its first 15 minutes. Have also hated his contributions ever since. I love him and support his ideals but his one-note rap schtick has gone stale. I hope he expands away from it creatively as he definitely has that gift.  Just don’t know why he resorts to rap to identify his work.  

[darquegk]

Posted: 8/3/23 at 6:32pm

...because he likes hip-hop? Nobody's asking why Jason Robert Brown has such seventies-eighties piano rock influence in his work.

[DJD4]

Posted: 8/3/23 at 8:09pm

When did people become so short and matter of fact on these boards? These are discussion boards for Petes sake. If somebody wants to be critical of a piece of news, let them talk about it. That is what these boards are for. I swear people around here just want to shut down everyones opinions and skepticism these days.

[JoeW4]

Posted: 8/3/23 at 8:30pm

BoringBoredBoard40 said: "Turning The Warriors into a musical totally misses the point, the book was written as a explicite response to West Side Story"

 

Take this question with a massive grain of salt, because I've never read or seen The Warriors - so I'm kinda pushing back on your comment, but also genuinely curious to hear your answer:

Why would turning it into a musical miss the point of its response to WSS? Is the author explicitly anti-musical theatre, or is it just anti-WSS? Seems to me that putting it back into the same medium as WSS might actually allow The Warriors' story to work in conversation with it in an exciting way. Miranda could stylize the music to be deliberately antithetical to the musical style of WSS, or alternately, he could pastiche WSS's style while turning it on its head in some way (like what Soft Power does with The King and I).

Anyway, like I said, I don't actually know what I'm talking about when it comes to this specific source material. It just seems to me, from the way you worded your comment, that the two ideas (The Warriors being a response to WSS, and The Warriors becoming its own musical) aren't inherently in conflict with each other. But maybe they are in conflict, for reasons I'm not aware of.

[Rentaholic2]

Posted: 8/3/23 at 8:53pm

Dom P said: "Interesting trivia bit, a "Warriors" theater billboard appears in a scene in "American Gigolo" when a state senate or congressman aide is confronted by Richard Gere, who the aide is caught tailing unsuccessfully."

How in the world was that tidbit in your back pocket?

[Rentaholic2]

Posted: 8/3/23 at 8:58pm

BrodyFosse123 said: "More LMM rapping schtick I personally am not a fan of. Loved the subtle use of it in IN THE HEIGHTS, hated HAMILTON within its first 15 minutes. Have also hated his contributions ever since. I love him and support his ideals but his one-note rap schtick has gone stale. I hope he expands away from it creatively as he definitely has that gift. Just don’t know why he resorts to rap to identify his work."

What are you even talking about?  "One-note rap schtick"?  Most of Hamilton is not rap.  

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 8/3/23 at 10:27pm

Rentaholic2 said: "Dom P said: "Interesting trivia bit, a "Warriors" theater billboard appears in a scene in "American Gigolo" when a state senate or congressman aide is confronted by Richard Gere, who the aide is caught tailing unsuccessfully."

How in the world was that tidbit in your back pocket?"

[Mr. Wormwood]

Posted: 8/3/23 at 11:57pm

BoringBoredBoard40 said: "Literally why, and who is this for?"

Couldn't that have been said about any Sondheim musical in its infancy? Let's breathe for a second and see what happens.

[bear88]

Posted: 8/4/23 at 3:39am

Isn’t it a good thing that Lin-Manuel Miranda is writing a new Broadway musical? 

A new Miranda musical would be an event, it would be picked apart as mentioned above, and it would attract plenty of attention.

Miranda has a pretty good track record, but even if this show isn’t an artistic triumph, I would rather see him trying to create new work for the stage. Broadway could use him more than Disney.

[Owen22]

Posted: 8/4/23 at 10:12am

So...what is the difference between The Warriors and The Outsiders...?  : )

[KingOfTheMine]

Posted: 7/8/24 at 4:41pm

Found this prior thread from when this project was first rumored, so I will also copy today's article below - 

Bloomberg reporting that Lin is wrapping up the recording of a concept album for a new musical co-written by playwright Eisa Davis based on the 1979 movie "The Warriors."

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/lin-manuel-miranda-s-next-musical-project-will-be-a-concept-album-1.2094069

Updated On: 7/8/24 at 04:41 PM

[RUkiddingme]

Posted: 7/8/24 at 8:19pm

David Patrick Kelly

As a young man he was in Warriors film.

Since then he has been in many musicals from Once to Into The Woods to Once Upon A Mattress.

I hope there is a part for him in a Warriors musical.

[jacobsnchz14]

Posted: 8/1/24 at 10:02am

https://www.instagram.com/lin_manuel?igsh=MXE3bzdhcmZ1MWJ4eg==

[round2]

Posted: 8/1/24 at 1:59pm

RUkiddingme said: "David Patrick Kelly

As a young man he was in Warriors film.

Since then he has been in many musicals from Once to Into The Woods to Once Upon AMattress.

I hope there is a part for him in a Warriors musical."

I was thinking this, too. Would love that.

Updated On: 8/1/24 at 01:59 PM

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 8/1/24 at 3:13pm

RUkiddingme said: "David Patrick Kelly

As a young man he was in Warriors film.

Since then he has been in many musicals from Once to Into The Woods to Once Upon AMattress.

I hope there is a part for him in a Warriors musical."
 

DPK is at the top of my list for "people who've never been nominated for a Tony but deserve to win a Tony." Always great on stage and in David Lynch movies and so versatile.

Updated On: 8/1/24 at 03:13 PM