Somebody (i.e. entertainment website Polygon) once told me (i.e. reported publicly on Friday) that the musical stylings of the late ’90s-borne power pop band Smash Mouth could soon find a home in the bosom of the Broadway stage. The natural next step after running amok through the turn-of-the-century Bar Mitzvah circuit, scoring the opening scene of Shrek, and then just spending approximately two decades being in everyone’s head five times a year, Smash Mouth’s career-defining hit “All Star” will be the headlining number in a new jukebox stage musical written by Allison Frasca and officially sanctioned by the band.
And when I say “headlining,” I mean “only.” While the estimably titled All Star: The Best Broadway Musical is a bona fide four-act production boasting a full course of sung numbers, they will in fact all be different renditions of “All Star.”
That means we’ll see (yes, we—we’re all going) the play’s lead, portrayed by Frasca, articulate her dreams of making it as a big-time singer by vowing to get her game on, go play. It means we’ll find her contending with the heartache of romance gone awry by lamenting the gainsaying of meteor men. It means that when she inevitably stakes claim to newfound self-worth—or utter defeat; it worked for Les Mis—we’ll hear about the indirect relationship of brain-to-head intellect. It’s all “All Star.” All of it. (Don’t try to back out now; I already got us tickets.)
If this sounds like a hole-in-the-satellite-picture-sized nightmare, rest assured that Frasca’s production is taking all efforts to avert the possibility of monotony. Each version of the song will adopt a different musical styling or even genre, as arranged by musical director Paul Rigano.
The play’s inceptive public reading took place just this month at New York’s Davenport Theatre, which preempts a vie for the Broadway stage proper. Keep your ear to the backstreet for news on whether or not All Star: The Best Broadway Musical does indeed seal its fate as a winner, and doesn’t wind up staring down potential investors looking kind of dumb with their fingers and their thumbs in the… you get the idea.
Would you dare to see an all-“All Star” musical? Let us know! (Seriously, my schedule’s open.)
Images: Interscope
