When you think of David Simon as a writer, you think of gritty, slow burning dramas like The Wire, Treme and Show Me A Hero. You don't think of musicals.
And yet, the word on the street is that Simon's next project will be just that. A musical. A musical based around the music of The Pogues no less.
According to The Pogues's Spider Stacy, Simon, his wife the crime novelist Laura Lippman, and writer George Pelecanos have been working on the project for some time and have now reached the "final script stage."
“David’s had various TV projects which have obviously taken precedence because this is a long process,” Stacy said. “We’re on the final script stage. It’s been drafted and redrafted, drafted and redrafted countless times.”
The band's tin whistle player and one time frontman said that the plan is for the musical to debut in Broadway before hopefully making it's way to London and Ireland. The story is thought to be set in an Irish pub in the Hell’s Kitchen, New York in the 1990s. The musical will feature a number of ghosts and explore the early stages of gentrification in the area.
Stacy, who appeared in Simon's New Orleans set series, Treme, is also said to be acting as a consultant on the project.
“It’s a bit intimidating. This is the guy who created the Wire and kind of knows what he’s talking about,” he said.
Simon's next TV project, The Deuce, is set to debut later this year. The series will be a look at life in New York City during the 1970s and '80s when porn and prostitution were rampant in Manhattan. James Franco and Maggie Gyllenhaal are set to star.
Via The Irish Times
