(Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)
“I am so beyond in love with this gorgeous @latimes piece by Ashley Lee about @huntersthompsonmusical at @lajollaplayhouse”
Inside the unsavory, unauthorized Hunter S. Thompson musical with Broadway in its sights | By Ashley Lee | Los Angeles Times
This Tuesday, San Diego’s La Jolla Playhouse begins performances of “The Untitled, Unauthorized Hunter S. Thompson Musical.”
Yes, you read that right. The esteemed, eccentric, irreverent, intoxicated, gun-wielding godfather of gonzo journalism is the subject of an intriguing new stage show.
This world-premiere production, starring Tony-winning actor Gabriel Ebert as Thompson, is running through Oct. 8 — a week longer than initially scheduled, due to strong advance ticket sales. And its sights are aimed at Broadway.
Whatever confusion you’re feeling right now, Joe Iconis knows it well. “Yes, it’s actually a really terrible idea to try to write a musical about Hunter Thompson,” said the composer-lyricist, from whom the Playhouse commissioned the show 17 years ago.
“So many times throughout this process, I’ve definitely had moments where I’m like, ‘Am I out of my mind by having this person to be our leading character?’ Because it’s really scary to put someone like him at the center of a musical today.”
But Iconis — known for boosting the wild and weird through his popular Family concerts and the musical “Be More Chill” — has a relatively rebellious plan for showcasing this unconventional subject in what he considers an all-too-formulaic framework.
“Musicals that are authorized ‘biographies’ tend to center people who feel untouchable because any ugliness or flaws in their character are usually super smoothed out, or they make a little appearance and then, after a ‘come to Jesus’ moment in the middle of Act 2, they’re redeemed by the end of the show,” he explained, not naming any bio-musical in particular.
“The point of this is not to simply tell [Thompson’s] life story and celebrate what a great man he was,” he continued.
“His art, his ideas and his contributions to the world are worthy enough of a true examination, but so many of his actions were questionable in their own time, and especially when filtered through the lens of 2023. So I don’t want to sugarcoat anything or soften him up. I want to put this complex, challenging man at the center of this story, and not make any bones about the fact that he is complex and challenging.”
…continue reading at LATimes.com