North County-based skate superstar Tony Hawk on board with new Broadway musical
Big airs and Broadway are destined for a major duet, with a just-announced stage musical whose creative team includes North County’s own skateboard deity Tony Hawk.
The show is based on the Nick Hornby novel “Slam,” and is aiming to hit Broadway in 2020-21, according to Rolling Stone and other outlets.
Hawk, who happens to be a character in the novel, is a producer on the musical and also will develop its skate choreography.
Hornby might be best-known for the previous book-turned-musical “High Fidelity,” which ran on Broadway in 2006.
The score to “Slam” is being composed by Mark Mothersbaugh, the co-founder and longtime lead singer of Devo as well as an accomplished film composer.
And the show’s writer is Tony Award nominee Kyle Jarrow (“SpongeBob SquarePants”), who collaborated with songwriter Duncan Sheik on the the Old Globe’s 2010 world-premiere musical “Whisper House.”
Playbill says the coming-of-age saga of “Slam” centers on Sam, “a kid from a troubled background who finds refuge and hope in the world of skateboarding.
“When he falls in love for the first time, it seems like everything’s looking up, until his girlfriend becomes pregnant. While navigating his way through adulthood, he finds guidance through imagined conversations with his idol, Tony Hawk.”
“Slam” won’t be the first time skateboarding will be part of a Broadway show, by the way: It was featured prominently in the number “Bikini Bottom Boogie” from the “SpongeBob” musical, which closed in September after a nine-month run.
Twitter: @jimhebert
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