Over the years, Melissa Etheridge has flirted with Broadway: In 2011, she played the role of St. Jimmy in the musical American Idiot, and in 2019, it was reported that she was writing the music for a stage version of the movie Mystic Pizza. It turns out, she’s also got plans to bring her own songs and story to the Great White Way.
Unlike, say, Jersey Boys, which tells the story of The Four Seasons through the group’s songs, or Mamma Mia!, which uses ABBA‘s songs as part of an original story, Melissa tells ABC Audio that what she has in mind was inspired by something one of her musical heroes did.
“The first thing will be more like Springsteen on Broadway,” Melissa says, referring to the hugely successful run of shows Bruce Springsteen did on and off from 2017 to 2021. “It will be me. It’ll be my songs and my story.”
So, did Melissa just go to see Bruce and figure, “I can do that?” She laughs, “Exactly. I went, ‘I can do that, and I can do it my own way."”
She explains, “I mean, he did a very specific thing and my story is certainly different. And the way that I would unfold it is going to be different too.”
Melissa has shows scheduled through September — including her destination festival Etheridge Island over Labor Day weekend — but the Broadway plan is looming.
“There might be something at the end of this year; we’ll see,” she teases.
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