Magic Mike Drama - Kitt & Yorkey exit

[binau]

Posted: 5/4/19 at 6:35am

Kitt, Yorkey and book writer have exited Magic Mike just months before the out of town try-out due to "Create Differences". It's not clear if they quit or were fired, but clearly the Producers and/or Director was not happy with how the show was progressing. 

https://deadline.com/2019/05/magic-mike-musical-creative-team-cancel-workshop-1202607031/

 

Updated On: 5/4/19 at 06:35 AM

[MrsSallyAdams]

Posted: 5/4/19 at 6:52am

The producers have enough money and hubris to see this through... at least till the Boston tryout. Any predictions of who they'll hire next? My guess is someone inexperienced who'll offer them less opinions.

[JBroadway]

Posted: 5/4/19 at 6:57am

From a human standpoint, I'm sorry to hear that they are going through this. Having to drop, or being dropped from a project must be extremely frustrating and potentially heartbreaking. 

However, from a purely artistic standpoint - as a potential future audience member of the show - I'm relieved that the the King of Bland, Tom Kitt, will not be involved in this project anymore. 

[binau]

Posted: 5/4/19 at 6:59am

Complete speculation, but I bet you the replacement team will be a bit more mainstream churn out something a bit 'poppy'. This reminds me of Frankel & Korie's exit from Finding Neverland.......these creatives probably consider themselves to be high-end artists that have a specific vision they want to fulfill, whereas the Producers are looking for something mainstream to appeal to wide audiences. The writers of avant garde musicals next to normal and if/then don't scream out "we're going to create the next best girls out night event #yasssss". 

[MrsSallyAdams]

Posted: 5/4/19 at 8:06am

Okay. I've found my favorite headline.

BroadwayRadio: Magic Mike grinds to a halt.

[fashionguru_23]

Posted: 5/4/19 at 10:07am

qolbinau said: "Complete speculation, but I bet you the replacement team will be a bit more mainstream churn out something a bit 'poppy'. This reminds me of Frankel & Korie's exit from Finding Neverland.......these creatives probably consider themselves to be high-end artists that have a specific vision they want to fulfill, whereas the Producers are looking for something mainstream to appeal to wide audiences. The writers of avant garde musicals next to normal and if/then don't scream out "we're going to create the next best girls out night event #yasssss"."

^^^This is exactly what I was thinking.

[RippedMan]

Posted: 5/4/19 at 10:29am

But they've been attached for, like, years. It just seems odd to then kick them out when the out-of-town is only a few months away. 

I'm gonna scream if they get Eddie Perfect, ha.

[everythingtaboo]

Posted: 5/4/19 at 11:29am

I don't get why they don't go full on jukebox musical and use songs from the movies?

[bdn223]

Posted: 5/4/19 at 12:20pm

My counter to the Yorkey and Kitt being to high brow for Magic Mike is that their work on Freaky Friday. If the two are able to successfully work with all the strings attached to a Disney property that was created for the sole purpose of being as wide appealing as possible for licensing, I don’t understand how they couldn’t do the same for Magic Mike. I think its Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa‘s exit that seems more surprising. The man is credited with developing the gen-Z cultural behemoths that are Riverdale and The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. Add to that Yorkey’s work on Thirteen Reasons Why, and the only real creative disagreement I could see is the two want to focus on the coming of age aspect of the story as its their specialty, and producer want a stripping dancical. In other words they wanted to adapt the movie, and producers just want to adapt the idea of the movie.

[VintageSnarker]

Posted: 5/4/19 at 1:35pm

Kitt/Yorkey sound like a fine fit to adapt the movie, which to my understanding was a Steven Soderbergh angst-fest in ugly, muted colors about a guy who wanted to make furniture and be with his lamp of a love interest. I imagine that as bdn223 said, the producers would rather adapt the idea of the movie and do a typical male revue show dressed up with a couple of songs for the pretense of theatrical legitimacy. 

Is there a reason they can't just rent a theater for a limited engagement of this instead of trying to tell a story?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YyJRkq3Cl28

[Robbie2]

Posted: 5/4/19 at 5:11pm

Workshop cancelled this week. I bet this ends up not happening at this point. November is 6 months away for the supposed opening at the Colonial in Boston. They just may end up with the Magic Mike Strip show or a tour booked instead. 

Isn't that what most just want to see? Male flesh and butts! LOL



 

[Gizmo6]

Posted: 5/4/19 at 5:49pm

Robbie2 said: "Workshop cancelled this week. I bet this ends up not happening at this point. November is 6 months awayfor the supposed opening at the Colonial in Boston. They just may end up with the Magic Mike Strip show or a tour booked instead.

Isn't that what most just want to see? Male flesh and butts! LOL



"

So this is different to the Channing Tatum Magic Mike in London? I had presumed it was the same. 

https://www.magicmikelondon.co.uk

[Jmuep2]

Posted: 5/4/19 at 5:51pm

I suspect some of this might also be that Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa just had too much on his plate with two TV shows on the air and a third about to be picked up. 

[LuPita2]

Posted: 5/4/19 at 5:58pm

I don't really think people care about these men singing or any kind of story.  They should just see the show in Vegas and maybe open one in Atlantic City.  Hot guys grinding on stage is what people care about, not the "dark" side of that awful film.  

[dramamama611]

Posted: 5/4/19 at 6:00pm

It would be interesting (not that we will likely ever hear) whether they were fired or quit.

[John Adams]

Posted: 5/4/19 at 6:02pm

Robbie2 said: "They just may end up with the Magic Mike Strip show or a tour booked instead.

Isn't that what most just want to see? Male flesh and butts! LOL



"

Speaking for myself, I've always believed that a Magic Mike musical was a really, REALLY dumb idea.

I mean... c'mon... The movie plot is SOOOO interesting that it deserves a musical treatment? I couldn't even be bothered to see it in a movie house. Waiting until it was at its rock-bottom rental price proved to be a very good decision. I endured the plot, to see the bods, and didn't have to pay an arm and a leg to do it.

But a Broadway musical? Wait... a bunch of hot guys, stripping... live, onstage... ... set to music... Isn't that just a regular strip show but without the tips???? (HA!! See what I did there?)

Besides, we already have Broadway Bares which is the same scenario (strippers on Broadway), but for a much, much more worthy cause. 

Updated On: 5/4/19 at 06:02 PM

[RippedMan]

Posted: 5/4/19 at 7:49pm

I wonder how sales are in Boston?

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 5/4/19 at 10:09pm

Without book, music and lyrics, what have they got? 

[LuPita2]

Posted: 5/4/19 at 10:31pm

Penis. 

[darquegk]

Posted: 5/5/19 at 12:34am

Weighing in as a straight guy, I think there's almost no way for "Magic Mike the Musical" to be successful in the same way the film was successful, because I can't help but feel that making it a musical plays into the opposite of what the film was trying to be.

"Magic Mike" had crossover appeal (for obvious reasons), but it was a film predominantly designed to speak to straight men and modern "bro" culture, with the underlying message that there's nothing weak or sissy about catering unapologetically to women in the way society has trained them to cater to us. It was a direct response to the old stereotype that gigolos or male strippers are manipulative or "straight for pay" gay men, a stereotype that can be seen everywhere from "Mad Men" to "The Full Monty," not to mention just about every depiction of Chippendales dancers. The point of the whole movie was "dudes, you can be strong AND sexy in a way that doesn't involve misogyny or domination of women." They worked pretty hard at making the film erotic but never overtly homoerotic, because if anything about the "Magic Mike" experience seemed gay, it would have undercut the film's statement about a new outlook on masculinity.

I suspect that putting it into a Broadway musical will crank the homoeroticism up, giving audiences what they want but actually missing the subversive element of the film itself, much like Starship Troopers the film is a direct criticism of Starship Troopers the novel.

[ljay889]

Posted: 5/5/19 at 12:38am

Can we get a Full Monty revival instead?? 

[MrsSallyAdams]

Posted: 5/5/19 at 7:06am

Thank you darquegk . You've made the first solid argument I've seen for the film and London shows heteronormativity. There's a reason the only part of that film I like (gay man here) is Matt Bomer's doll striptease from the deleted scenes.

I'd assume a Broadway production would need to add a gay character/subplot to maintain a New York audience. The second movie had a sexless gay best friend and a fully clothed scene in a gay club which didn't make much impression. In fact the cast kept their pants on for most of the film. As you said the point of it were the conversations between men.

Updated On: 5/5/19 at 07:06 AM

[coasterking500]

Posted: 5/5/19 at 8:36am

Wouldnt also ticket price be working against them without some big names attatched creative or cast?
I know this can be said of most any adaptation of an IP which is so common these days, but with there already being a movie with a pretty well known cast plus the internet I just wonder if this will struggle to pull in an audience long term.
Sure theres plenty who at first will shell out the money but whats the difference between paying to go to a actual strip club or other show of that type vs this?

I certainly could be wrong but I just wonder if it will struggle to find a paying audience being its a musical and there are other more affordable ways to see well built individuals show off.

[VintageSnarker]

Posted: 5/5/19 at 8:51am

darquegk said: "it was a film predominantly designed to speak to straight men and modern "bro" culture, with the underlying message that there's nothing weak or sissy about catering unapologetically to women in the way society has trained them to cater to us. [...] The point of the whole movie was "dudes, you can be strong AND sexy in a way that doesn't involve misogyny or domination of women." 

Ooh, disagree. At least as far as the dancing and choreography is concerned, it doesn't seem any different from typical male revue shows, which I've never understood the appeal of. Obviously I'm generalizing but I think the last thing straight women need in 2019 is more sexual aggression from straight men. Male strip shows never reverse the power dynamic. The performers are always dominant and aggressive and in control. They're never vulnerable and their masculinity is not challenged. 

Correct me if I'm wrong and this does get explored in the movie. I'm trying to think of an example that explores masculinity in a interesting way due to some kind of economic role reversal but I'm drawing a blank. Works like Pal Joey and The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone still preserve the male character's dominance and agency. Maybe Sunset Boulevard?