After years of making theater-inspired albums, AJR‘s Broadway dreams are finally coming true.
The “Bang!” band’s Jack and Ryan Met are writing original songs for an upcoming Broadway musical adaptation of the beloved 1955 children’s book Harold and the Purple Crayon.
In this version of the story, Harold is now a young adult who, as a press release puts it, “can no longer rely on his magical purple crayon.”
The project’s stage rights were acquired by TEG+, a new company from Broadway producer Vivek J. Tiwary, whose Tiwary Entertainment Group staged the Green Day and Alanis Morissette musicals American Idiot and Jagged Little Pill, respectively.
“We adored Harold and the Purple Crayon growing up, and we thought: what if we saw Harold as a young adult, realizing that his problems are too profound to simply draw away,” AJR says. “Vivek’s incredible musical work and his passion for this idea made him the perfect partner for the reimagining of the classic story.”
An opening date for the musical has yet to be announced.
AJR, meanwhile, is about to launch a U.S. tour in April in support of the trio’s very theatrical 2021 album, OK ORCHESTRA.
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