Elton John Writing Musical Adaptation of Orwell's 'Animal Farm'
How to bring "an allegorical account of the Soviet Union's passage into Stalinism" to the Broadway and West End masses?
That's for Elton John to figure out:
"Sir Elton John is reportedly working on a stage adaptation of Animal Farm, teaming up with the writer of Billy Elliot, for a musical version of George Orwell's classic novel. 'I'm deep into it, writing songs for pigs and other four-legged friends,' Lee Hall told the Daily Mail. 'I know that Elton likes to have the lyrics done and have them in front of him so [I] work on a batch before I give him anything to look at.' Hall and John have been working on the project for about two years, negotiating publishing rights for Orwell's 1945 book. 'We almost gave up,' he said. 'There was always that one last licence to go after.' The pair will begin working intensively this autumn, although it will still take 'about two years before it's all ready to go'."
Go away, Elton. Go hang out with your buddy Rush and stop remind me of your existence.
Posted by: Jimmy | Jul 26, 2010 8:28:48 AM
Elton has just become an annoyance in his later years. In the picture above he appears to be a woman, not a man.
Posted by: tweedle | Jul 26, 2010 8:28:57 AM
What's wrong with being a woman "Tweedle"?
No surprise that he wants to do a musical version of one of the signature works of a destructive self-loathing closet queen.
Posted by: David Ehrenstein | Jul 26, 2010 9:05:15 AM
"a destructive self-loathing closet queen" [Citation needed]
Posted by: JC | Jul 26, 2010 9:21:55 AM
The image of Elton next to that pig it too precious.
Posted by: GGREEN | Jul 26, 2010 9:31:47 AM
Can't they just use Pink Floyd songs and call it a day?
Posted by: crispy | Jul 26, 2010 9:57:25 AM
Just what Broadway needs. For once that god-awful American Idol-style caterwauling will sound appropriate--coming from pigs.
Posted by: jomicur | Jul 26, 2010 10:31:35 AM
I'm excited! If as a result of this there will be a 1% rise in popular interest in Orwell, like there was in T.S. Eliot with CATS, I'll be forever worshipful of Elton. There is no doubt in my mind that, after his charities, what's left of his earnings from Mr. Limbaugh's birthday went into making Animal Farm the Musical a dream closer and closer to reality. I personally believe that, without "Memory," CATS wouldn't have been as big and as memorable a hit as it is today. It's a feast for the eyes, sure, but all the other songs in the production are arcane to the genre, whereas "Memory" could already be hummed by an untrained listener on second listen. What is obvious and need no explaining is that Elton John's ear for melody is beyond reproach, and that the album of Animal Farm the Musical will produce not just one chart topper but at least 75% of total tracks. I expect to describe Elton John's Animal Farm the Musical like Haliwell's (?) description of the Sound of Music: "all the songs are made in heaven."
Posted by: Manny Espinola | Jul 26, 2010 1:12:20 PM
Elton John, you are dead to me. You sang at Rush Limbaugh's wedding; I dance on your grave.
Posted by: Bryan Harrison | Jul 26, 2010 2:26:16 PM
Where did I say that there is something wrong with being a woman, "David"? Sheath your talons, "Mary".
JC asked for proof of your assertiona about Orwell. Please, we would like to read them. Elton John has certainly, over the years, acted much like a destructive self-loathing closet queen. Now we can just add "greedy" and "self-absorbed" to the list of pejoratives.
Posted by: tweedle | Jul 26, 2010 3:24:30 PM
Idiot!
Posted by: mike128 | Jul 26, 2010 6:42:15 PM
He's just doing this so that he can play the Pig---the orchestrator, manipulator, and monster. Fuck Sir John.
Posted by: Paul R | Jul 27, 2010 1:05:38 AM