MEMPHIS' DiPietro & Bryan at work on New Musical, CHASING THE SONG

MEMPHIS creators - and Tony winners! - Joe DiPietro and David Bryan have confirmed at tonight's Tony ceremony that they are currently hard at work with their next project, CHASING THE SONG, a show that Bryan has called "an original, which we call a 'future revival'."

Bryan spoke with the blog Attention Deficit Delirium, saying: "Our tentative title is called Chasing The Song, and it takes place after Memphis and after the Fifties, right in 1960 before the Beatles came in. So that small window of time when everything was about the songwriter, before bands wrote their own songs. People always say, "How do you write songs? Do the words come first? Does the music come first?" This is going to be about songwriters and have a story as well, and we're still developing it. Chasing The Song is you're always chasing the number one hit as a songwriter."

The pair's current Broadway hit, MEMPHIS, features a brand new score with music by the Bon Jovi's founding member/keyboardist David Bryan and lyrics by Bryan and Joe DiPietro (I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change), who also pens the musical's book. MEMPHIS is based on a concept by the late George W. George (producer of the Tony nominated Bedroom Farce and the film My Dinner With Andre), with direction by Tony nominee Christopher Ashley (Xanadu) and choreography by Sergio Trujillo (Jersey Boys).

MEMPHIS takes place in the smoky halls and underground clubs of the segregated 50's, a young white DJ named Huey Calhoun (Chad Kimball) fell in love with everything he shouldn't: rock and roll and an electrifying black singer (Montego Glover). MEMPHIS is an original story about the cultural revolution that erupted when his vision met her voice, and the music changed forever.

Tickets for MEMPHIS range from $41.50 to $126.50 (including a $1.50 facility fee). The performance schedule is as follows: Tuesday at 7pm, Wednesday - Saturday evenings at 8pm, Wednesdays and Saturdays at 2pm, and Sundays at 3pm. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit www.Telecharge.com, call 212.239.6200 or visit the Shubert Theatre Box Office (225 West 44th Street).

 

Photo Credit: Peter James Zielinski