On a March evening in 1972, seven songs into a set by the British band Yes, those words from “Long Distance Runaround” washed over the crowd at the San Diego Sports Arena, and reverberated in the ears of a 14-year-old kid scribbling notes backstage.
It was the night Cameron Crowe’s own dream of making a life as a rock ‘n’ roll writer took its first big leap toward reality. And even today, for Crowe, it seems less about remembering than feeling he’s still right there.
Which, at the moment, he is.
3 comments:
This is actually one of the few movie to musical stage adaptations that I'm legitimately excited to see. I think that Almost Famous is an extraordinary movie that has a great plot line with a lot of different locations and a great message. It is very fitting that this show will start in San Diego seeing that this is a story about Cameron Crowe and his childhood. I also think that this story has a lot of opportunities for great musical numbers without it sounding too tacky. Just like the movie, this musical will thrive because of its cult following and having a certain sense of camp to it- I just hope that this is something that is acknowledged and respected throughout the process. There is a lot of potential here and I want this musical to take San Diego by storm before it ends up on Broadway, which it will- definitely something I'd love to work on.
I am not sure how to feel about this movie becoming a musical. I love the movie Almost Famous, but I hate it when musicals are made from popular movies or shows, or created around a popular culture theme blatantly looking for profit and popularity. I know that this musical will cultivate a fair amount of fans and audience members because of the popularity of the movie, While I am reassured by Crowe’s testimony and dedication to keeping the same energy and meaning of the movie “alive” and “not festisizing…[but] just kind of treasuring” this era of rock and roll, I do not know if that is something he is going to be able to pull of in a stage version of this iconic movie. I am also interested by what kind of music Kitt will be writing into the script. I think that adding musical numbers dispersed throughout the plot of this story – in addition to the song sung by the band and groupies in the movie – would be rather uncomfortable and I am intrigued in seeing how critics respond to the opening of this show.
Almost Famous is my all time favorite movie. It’s not perfect, but I was introduced to it at just the right time in my life for the message to hit me so hard that it has stayed with me until this day. When I heard a few months ago it was getting a stage adaptation, I was thrilled, but also extremely skeptical. Rock music and musical music are two entirely different entities, so I was curious as to how the composer would organize the musical in a way that would flow. Rock musicals have been done before, but Almost Famous has live band performances that don’t hold the typical musical spectacle. However, it’s comforting to hear how much of an involvement the original writer, Cameron Crowe, has had with the production. The original music writer Tom Kitt explained how he also has been making an effort to make a sound that is close to the one of the era. I won’t lie and say I am not hesitant for the show since this movie holds a very special place in my heart. Although, I am excited to hear that great care is being taken to create an authentic adaptation with its own originality. I can’t wait to see it when I can.
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