Nearly seven years after the announcement of an in-the-works Magic Mike musical, the dancer is ready to put it all (yes, all) out there on the Broadway stage. The stage adaptation of the steamy franchise will premiere at the Emerson Colonial Theatre in Boston this fall, running November 30 through January 5, 2020. A Broadway bow is expected to follow.
As previously reported, Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey—the Pulitzer-winning team of Next to Normal, If/Then, and Off-Broadway’s upcoming Superhero—will pen the score, with Riverdale scribe Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa writing the book. Trip Cullman (Broadway’s current Choir Boy) and Camille A. Brown (Once On This Island) will direct and choreograph, respectively.
Rather than rehash the plots already told in the Magic Mike cinematic universe, the musical will instead offer a backstory on Mike Lane, the college student-turned-stripper before earning his title moniker. As he enters the world of male entertainment at an exclusive night club, he fights to juggle his relationships with his family and girlfriend alongside his newfound talents.
Casting for Boston and Broadway will be confirmed at a later date. Previous developmental presentations of the musical have featured Derek Klena, Benjamin Walker, Curt Hansen, Will Swenson, and Nick Adams.
Channing Tatum, who took on the title role in the 2012 movie and its 2015 sequel, serves as a producer alongside the original film’s director Steven Soderbergh, Magic Mike XXL's Gregory Jacobs, screenwriter Reid Carolin, Nick Wechsler, and Free Association’s Peter Kiernan, plus executive producers Nina Essman and Marcia Goldberg.
“When we were shooting Magic Mike, I looked at myself in a thong and thought, ‘Well, Chan, say goodbye to your career,’” said Tatum. “So the idea that seven years later, a Pulitzer Prize-winning creative team would be making a full-fledged musical prequel is definitive proof that God loves strippers. I couldn’t be more excited about the next chapter in the Magic Mike story.”
In addition to Tatum, whose pre-Hollywood years served as inspiration for the franchise, the films have featured the talents and abs of Matthew McConaughey, Alex Pettyfer, Joe Manganiello, Matt Bomer, and Adam Rodriguez. Since then, a staged version (separate from the musical), Magic Mike Live, has played Vegas and London.
Last year, the Emerson Colonial—recently reopened and refurbished under new operation by Ambassador Theatre Group—was home to the world premiere of another Broadway-bound musical based on a movie: Moulin Rouge! The Alex Timbers-helmed production will open at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre July 25.
