Trading Places, the John Landis-directed 1983 hit comedy starring Dan Aykroyd and Eddie Murphy, is being developed as a Broadway-bound stage musical with a book by Reno 911‘s Thomas Lennon and a score by Alan Zachary & Michael Weiner (First Date), with Kenny Leon (Othello, The Balusters) attached to direct.
Two invitation-only workshop presentations are scheduled for May 14 and May 15 in New York, with actors Bryce Pinkham as Louis Winthorpe III (the Aykroyd role) and Ephraim Sykes as Billy Ray Valentine (the Murphy role). Pinkham is currently starring on Broadway as The Arbiter in Chess, and Sykes is performing various roles in Broadway’s The Fear of 13.
The workshops were announced today by producer Marc Madnick. Choreography is by Fatima Robinson (Super Bowl Halftime Show 2022, The Wiz Live!).
The musical had a world premiere in 2022 at the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta.
The workshop cast also includes Mark Evans, Marc Kudisch, McKenzie Kurtz, Josh Lamon, Jennifer Sánchez and Lenny Wolpe. The ensemble includes Jimmy Ray Bennett, Wendi Bergamini, Reid Clarke, Dana Costello, Julia Grondin, Arica Jackson, Raymond J. Lee, James Luc, Xavier Reyes, Michael McCorry Rose, Laughton Royce, and Kevin Zak.
The synopsis: “Billy Ray Valentine is an out-of-work street hustler with a con for every occasion. Louis Winthorpe III is an out-of-touch commodities broker without a care in the world. But during a single holiday season, they become the pawns in an elaborate bet orchestrated by the Dukes, two scheming old brothers, and their lives are forever upended in a hilarious riches-to-rags and rags-to-riches story.”
The 1983 film marked Murphy’s second hit film (following the previous year’s 48 Hrs.), and came three years after Aykroyd’s major film breakthrough in The Blues Brothers. Jamie Lee Curtis also starred. The Paramount motion picture was written by Timothy Harris and Herschel Weingrod, and became the fourth-highest-grossing film of the year.
Production details on the musical have not been released, though an eventual Broadway staging is expected.
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