Cyndi Lauper Reality Show in Development with 'Survivor's' Mark Burnett

By: Jun. 23, 2010
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According to aceshowbiz.com, Cyndi Lauper has teamed up with Survivor producer Mark Burnett to create a reality show centered on her life in New York City. The show would also feature her husband of 19 years, actor David Thornton and their 12 year-old son, Declyn. Lauper was last seen on TV in this season's Celebrity Apprentice.

This announcement comes on the heels of two other major headlines for Lauper: as BroadwayWorld recently reported, the singer/songwriter is attached to write a Broadway musical with stage and screen favorite Harvey Fierstein and will begins a tour of her new album, Memphis Blues, on Friday, June 25.

The NY Daily News reported on the subject: "Lauper is writing the songs for a musical by Harvey Fierstein, based on the British cult film "Kinky Boots." Naturally, the plot involves something edgy: two men who make boots for transvestites. That dovetails with Lauper's seeming life-long identification with outsiders, which begs the million-dollar question: Why does she connect to that role so deeply? "Cuz I was always outside," she says. "And when you're hanging around outside, you start to see the other people that are outside."

In 2008, it was announced that "Kinky Boots" was being developed as a Broadway-aimed musical by producers Daryl Roth and Hal Luftig. Tony Award-winning director/choreographer Jerry Mitchell was in discussions to direct the project. It is not known if Mitchell is sitll attached to the piece.

Producer Roth told the Hollywood Reporter that "the story is really about relationships, and I want to find the heart at the center of it."

Lauper achieved success in the mid-1980's with the release of her album She's So Unusual, and became the first female signer to have four top-five singles released from one album. She has released 11 albums and over 40 singles, and as of 2008 has sold more than 25 million records worldwide. She appeared on Broadway in the 2005 revival of The Threepenny Opera as Jenny, and recently appeared as a competitor on The Celebrity Apprentice.

"Kinky Boots" is a 2005 Golden Globe Award-nominated British-American comedy film written by Geoff Deane and Tim Firth, about a traditional Northampton shoemaker, based in Earls Barton, who turns to producing fetishism footwear in order to save the failing family business and the jobs of his workers. The film is based on the story of Divine, which was featured in an episode of the BBC documentary series Trouble at the Top.

Lauper released her new CD, 'Memphis Blues,' on June 22. She embarks on an accompanying tour, beginning on June 25.

'Memphis Blues,' produced by Mercer Street, is a blues album and features special guests Allan Toussaint, B.B. King, Jonny Lang, Charlie Musselwhite, and Ann Peebles. The album includes such tracks as 'Just Your Fool,' 'Early in the Morning,' and 'Rollin and Tumblin.' The album is available for purchase in stores and online.

Lauper's tour will begin on June 25 at Morristown, New Jersey's Mayo Center for the Performing Arts. The tour will continue until September 3, making stops in cities including Boston, Cleveland, Chicago, Montreal, New York, New Orleans, Dallas, Albuquerque, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Seattle, and Vancouver. For a complete tour schedule, as well as more information about 'Memphis Blues,' visit cyndilauper.com.



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