When we interviewed her last year ahead of new album Neon Grey Midnight Green, Neko Case said things were in motion with the Thelma & Louise musical she's been working on for a decade. Now it's finally going to debut.
Case announced on her Substack today that the show will run Sept. 3 through Oct. 24 at the Young Vic Theater in London. Tickets go on sale April 23, or April 20 for those who already have priority booking. Case wrote the music and lyrics, while Callie Khouri, who wrote the original Thelma & Louise screenplay, did the book. Trip Cullman will direct.
A word from Case:
I will be in London most of the summer helping put on the finishing touches and rehearsing. (no, I’m not performing.) I am so proud of everyone and I hope you will join us if you can. Fingers crossed, everybody! Here goes! XO
Case's New Pornographers bandmate Carl Newman wrote on Instagram that he contributed to the project:
This is kind of crazy. In the works since 2019, I wrote some music for this Neko Thelma & Louise musical that is finally hitting the stage in London at the Old Vic this September. Possible UK trip in the future? I'm as curious as you are.
Here's an excerpt from our Case interview:
How does this stage version differ from the film?
One of the things we really wanted to do in the show was make the men less cartoonish. The men were kind of caricatures of aspects of men; they weren't full men. So we are working hard to make sure that the men in the story are not caricatures and that they're real people, and that they understand their part in what's happening and they realize how much they have to lose and how we all lose with patriarchy. And the women take credit for their part in the stupid dance of the relationships of men and women and, you know, playing hard to get, not telling somebody you're mad, or just those weird avoidance dances and how much time we waste not saying how we feel.
What's your background with musicals?
When Callie [Khouri, who wrote the original screenplay] called me to do this, I was like, "Callie, I don't know anything about fucking musicals. I can't even read music." And she was like, "Nope, that's the reason I want you to do it." And I was like, "Okay, but I'll probably need lots of help." So all these years later, I haven't had to bend myself too hard. But if I get fired tomorrow — which I could, you know, and I've always known that since the beginning; this may also never happen, it could never make it to Broadway — it's been a masterclass in songwriting and storytelling.
Head to the venue website here.
