The 1988 romantic comedy Mystic Pizza is being adapted into a stage musical, with the premiere set to take place this summer at the Ogunquit Playhouse in Ogunquit, Maine.
The new production was set to be scored by Melissa Etheridge when it was originally announced in January 2019. It has now been confirmed that the musical will include Etheridge’s music as well as a range of hit songs from the ’80s and ’90s. Artists included in the soundtrack include Rick Astley, Van Morrison, Cyndi Lauper, Belinda Carlisle, The Supremes, and Bryan Adams.
The new musical will be directed by Casey Hushion, with a book by Sandy Rustin and orchestral arrangements by Carmel Dean. The full cast and crew will be announced at a later date.
The film Mystic Pizza, which launched the career of Julia Roberts and includes a minor role by Matt Damon, is a coming-of-age story of three young women in Mystic, Connecticut working at a local pizza parlour. It deals with issues of class and gender politics as the three struggle to make their post-high school lives distinct from their small town’s preppy elite, their families, and the men in their lives.
Tickets for the show at the Ogunquit Playhouse, where Mystic Pizza will run from 1 September until 2 October, go on general sale on 26 April.
Words by Alastair Lockhart.
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