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'Jukebox Musicals' Put Pop on Broadway
Producers of <i>Jersey Boys</i> are reaching out to a non-traditional Broadway audience by running ads on oldies radio stations in New Jersey.
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What do the songs of ABBA, Billy Joel, the Beach Boys, Elvis Presley and John Lennon have in common? They've all been the basis of a new category of Broadway entertainment: the jukebox musical, which takes popular song catalogs and places them in a dramatic context.
The trend began with 2001's Mamma Mia!, which centered around the songs of '70s disco group Abba. Other shows -- Lennon, All Shook Up and Good Vibrations -- tried to replicate the Mamma Mia! phenomenon but failed. One jukebox-musical success is the Billy Joel-based Movin' Out, directed and choreographed by Twyla Tharp.
Though the jukebox musical formula has not been foolproof for producers, attempts to create another big hit continue. Jersey Boys, a nearly $8 million show centered on the songs of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, recently opened on Broadway. Other jukebox musicals are in the offing: A show based on the songs of Johnny Cash is opening on Broadway in February, and Tharp is working on a Bob Dylan show.
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