On Broadway this fall, everything old is new again

nypost.com:

“Almost Famous,” which starts previews Oct. 3 at the Bernard B. Jacobs. It’s drawn from Cameron Crowe’s 2000 movie, a semi-autobiographical take on his travels as a teenage reporter for Rolling Stone.The film introduced Kate Hudson as teeny-bopper Penny Lane, self-appointed muse for the band, and gave us a joyous rendition of “Tiny Dancer.” Hudson isn’t in the musical, but that Elton John song is.“That was a no-brainer,” said Tom Kitt, the Tony Award-winning composer who wrote the show’s original music, with lyrics by Crowe, who also wrote the script. “We needed to do a take on it that would honor the film, but also theatricalize it and move our story forward.”When the musical premiered in Crowe’s hometown of San Diego, the LA Times reviewer Charles McNulty called it “as pleasing as a free and easy 1970s rock classic.’” Critics had great things to say about Solea Pfeiffer, the show’s Penny Lane, and Casey Likes as William Miller, Crowe’s young alter ego.Granted, it’s the rare movie that makes a long-running musical.

But Kitt — who composed, orchestrated and arranged the music for Pulitzer Prize-winning “Next to Normal” among them — is undaunted.“You think there’s a rhyme or reason or a template… but there isn’t,” he said. “It’s how a musical connects with an audience. ‘Almost Famous’ is Cameron’s personal story — it’s about his love of music.