Proving that boomer nostalgia needn’t always refer back to Mad Men days, a musical adaptation of the 1996 comedy The First Wives Club is in the works for Broadway.
But first, it will reopen next spring in Chicago’s Oriental Theater with a new book and director. Designing Women creator Linda Bloodworth-Thomason will rewrite the stage production’s book, based on the film and Olivia Goldsmith’s original novel. The production will then attempt the leap to The Great White Way for the 2015–2016 Broadway season.
Though it’s a broad, arguably hammy comedy, The First Wives Club has endured in large part because it featured three actresses at the top of their game and honestly explored how society treats women as they age, which is to say, like shit. The movie has become a cult hit for many women, especially older women, so it’ll be a good test of the power of the female purse. Let’s hope they include the iconic scene where the three ladies dance in their white suits.
(Melissa’s dream cast: Betty Buckley, Patti Lupone, and Bernadette Peters.)
[via Deadline]
