Has The First Wives Club Musical Found Its Director?

By: Aug. 16, 2005
FIRST WIVES CLUB
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Variety reports Francesca Zambello is in talks to helm the musical adaptation of the hit film, "The First Wives Club." Zambello recently joined the Disney production of The Little Mermaid as director. Previously, she has brought "West Side Story" (Bregenz Festival), "Les Tryoens" (Metropolitan Opera) and Aladdin (Disney Theme Park) to the stage.

Marketing maven Paul Lambert and his producing partner Jonas Neilson have enlisted the legendary Motown songwriting team of Eddie Holland, Lamont Dozier and Brian Holland to write the score, marking their first major songwriting project in years. "Holland-Dozier-Holland are American music royalty -according to BMI their music gets more airplay than the Rolling Stones, Elvis and the Beatles combined," stated Lambert, who is currently the president of marketing for Visionary Vehicles. "By matching their musical genius with the resonant franchise story of The First Wives Club, we have found a great formula for bringing a thrilling new theatrical experience to Broadway."

Between 1963 and the end of 1967, Holland-Dozier-Holland wrote many of Motown's hit singles, with Brian writing the music, Eddie writing the lyrics, and Lamont doing both. Their hits included "Heat Wave," "Quicksand," and "Nowhere To Run" for Martha and The Vandellas, "Mickey's Monkey" for The Miracles, and "Can I Get a Witness," "Your a Wonderful One," and "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You)" for Marvin Gaye. For The Four Tops, they penned such songs as "Baby I Need Your Loving," "I Can't Help Myself," and "Bernadette," while they wrote many of the Supremes' biggest hits including "Baby Love," "Stop! In the Name of Love," "I Hear A Symphony," and "You Can't Hurry Love."

The producers secured the rights to the Olivia Goldsmith novel over the bids of others by creating a preliminary package and a vision that appealed to both Goldsmith's estate and Viacom Consumer Products. Viacom is the parent company of Paramount, distributor of the film, which starred Bette Midler, Goldie Hawn and Diane Keaton, and grossed more than $130 million. They starred as Brenda, Elise and Annie, respectively, three women who aim to get their ex-husbands where it hurts most--the pocket.

A theater for the The First Wives Club: The Musical has not yet been booked.

To learn more about the upcoming show, visit www.fwcthemusical.com.


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