A Broadway production company might soon be putting out a casting call for a short, bald man who looks good in a top hat.
That’s because according to Michael Riedel of the New York Post, Broadway’s Araca Group is teaming up with board game-maker Hasbro to produce a Monopoly-themed musical. Though the show won’t exactly resemble the board game, it will apparently maintain the Monopoly spirit.
“Monopoly, the Musical” won’t be about people playing a board game. Nor will the cast include a top hat, Scottie dog, racing car or newcomers T. rex, rubber ducky and penguin. (Thimble, wheelbarrow and boot recently parted ways with Monopoly due to “artistic differences.”)
Sources say the musical is a screwball comedy set in Atlantic City during the Depression. One of the main characters is Charles Darrow, who’s credited with inventing the game.
This musical seems to be no gimmick. Riedel reports that the production is getting some big names, including Rick Elice, who wrote the book for “Jersey Boys.”
This may be kind of a goofy idea, but so was a hip-hop musical about Alexander Hamilton, and you know how that ended.
Imagine the other board games that could become musicals. Riedel suggests Candy Land (which could actually happen thanks to the Hasbro partnership), but we’ve got other ideas. How about singing checkers pieces? A war drama based on Risk or Stratego? A “Boyhood”-style production modeled after The Game of Life? A hospital-based take on Operation?
The possibilities are endless.
