Latest News!
- Brad Pitt Goes Back to Work – in Germany
- Elizabeth Edwards Tends to 'Gravely Ill' Mother
- Priestley: Jennie or Shannen Reunion Would Be 'Fun'
- Travis Barker Remembers His Friends with T-Shirts
- How Motherhood Has Domesticated Nicole Richie
- VIDEO: Katie Holmes Piques Eli Stone's Interest
- HSM Stars Spill the Dirt
People Top 5
LAST UPDATE: Friday October 10, 2008 11:10PM EDT
PEOPLE Top 5 are the most-viewed stories on the site over the past three days, updated every 60 minutes
Jeannie, Jesse & Rocky: The Musicals?
The '60s sitcom starring Barbara Eden, along with the saga of Rocky Balboa and the life of Jesse Ventura, are all under serious consideration to become Broadway shows.
Originally posted Thursday January 31, 2002 12:42 PM EST
There's a singing, dancing Hitler already on Broadway, thanks to the fertile mind of Mel Brooks and his show, "The Producers." Now, if various other creators see their projects come to fruition, the Great White Way also could soon be bursting with such larger-than-life characters as Rocky Balboa, Inspector Clouseau, TV's Jeannie (from the bottle) and Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura. Jeannie, of course, was the central focus of the NBC sitcom "I Dream of Jeannie," which ran from 1965 to 1970 (and lives forever in syndication) starring Barbara Eden, now 67, as the magical maiden who "belonged" to her astronaut master (Larry Hagman). The show's creator, Sidney Sheldon, has granted the rights to a team of producers that includes Michael Viner, who, with Sheldon, is currently executive producing a movie version of "Jeannie" for Columbia Pictures, reports Variety. Meanwhile, Reuters reports that Metro Goldwyn Mayer has developed a stage-producing arm with the purpose of musical-izing some of its old properties, and these could include Sylvester Stallone's "Rocky" series. Already, Blake Edwards's and Peter Sellers's "Pink Panther" comedy franchise about Inspector Clouseau is being worked up for the boards, while the musical adaptation of MGM's 1957 "The Sweet Smell of Success" is currently trying out in Chicago, prior to opening on Broadway. John Lithgow stars as J.J. Hunsecker, a Walter Winchell-like columnist made infamous in the movie by Burt Lancaster, and the score is by Marvin Hamlisch ("A Chorus Line"). But the biggest news seems to have come out of Minnesota on Wednesday, when the governor's office said the former wrestler-turned-politico is personally helping shape the script and songs for a proposed show about his life. "The Body Ventura," as it is being called, is destined for Broadway, Ventura spokesman John Wodele told Reuters, with Playbill On-Line quoting lyricist Stephen Dolginoff on how Ventura, 50, "really understands dramatic license and was very helpful about how I could make (the musical) truer to life." Send in the clowns.
Latest video
Who Looked Hot This Week
Week of October 10, 2008
See who sizzled this week in style (Nicole!) and how to get their looks for less
Advertisement
Today's Photos
What's Hot on People.com
Promotion
Treat Yourself! 4 Preview Issues















