Apparently, there is going to be a musical on Broadway based on the life of martial arts legend Bruce Lee.
Does Bruce Lee, that legendary martial arts man, have a future on Broadway?
It appears so, with the announcement Tuesday by Elephant Eye Theatrical of “Bruce Lee: Journey to the West,” a new musical slated for New York sometime during the 2010-11 season.
No casting yet for the role of Lee, who died in 1973 at the age of 32, but the show will be directed by Bartlett Sher, who is winning acclaim this season for his direction of the Lincoln Center Theatre revival of “South Pacific.”
“Bruce Lee: Journey to the West” will have a book by David Henry Hwang, author of “M. Butterfly” and a score by David Yazbeck, who wrote the music and lyrics for “The Full Monty” and “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.” The choreography will be by Dou Dou Huang, artistic director of the Shanghai Song and Dance Ensemble.
Besides martial arts, the musical will feature Chinese opera, pop music and more as it traces Lee’s journey to film stardom.
I’m not sure what exactly to make of this. One part of me is thinking, “Wow, this could be kinda cool.” The other part is screaming, “NO, NO, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, NO!!” I guess my worry is just that they’re going to turn Bruce Lee from arguably the best martial artist of all time to some anguished, melodramatic pretty boy who knows how to karate chop. I love Broadway shows — Phantom of the Opera is one of my favorite shows ever — but I just don’t see Bruce Lee and Broadway mixing very well. But who knows, I guess. I’m holding out hope that it’ll be on the “kinda cool” side. We’ll have to wait and see.
Thoughts?
Any news at this time whether they have changed their minds about the Bruce Lee musical broadway? Well, I was actually hoping that they would just pick out another great actor to pay tribute to in Broadway since I can’t imagine how martial arts can be incorporated into a musical show. But then again, we may never know how it will all turn out unless we give the highly acclaimed people behind this seemingly outrageous idea a chance to show the world that martial arts and music can be blended beautifully thru a musical show. With this, we may just have to wait and see – and hope for the best!
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