A Romp Through 1960s London, via Tom Jones (and Tom Jones)
“What’s New Pussycat?”—a new musical that marries a classic novel with a pop icon’s greatest hits—prepares for its Broadway close-up.
REVIEWS FROM UK PRODUCTION
★★★★★
"Zesty, witty, detail-packed fun. rollicking new (1960s-set) musical "
★★★★★
"Truly Wonderful, an irresistible tonic. Just what theatre needs right now"
★★★★
"Sheer, high-voltage fun. a bombshell of visual effects."
★★★★
"Top-class entertainment. A stroke of impertinent genius"
What do an 18th-century satirical novel and a Welsh pop legend with a booming voice and swivel hips have in common? More than you might expect, according to the creative minds behind What’s New Pussycat?, a new musical aiming for Broadway after an acclaimed UK run.
On June 25th and 26th, select members of New York’s theater industry will gather for an invitation-only presentation of the high-octane musical comedy, directed by Luke Sheppard (& Juliet), with a book by Tony Award-winner Joe DiPietro (Memphis, Diana). Their mission? To blend the madcap love story of Henry Fielding’s Tom Jones with the soulful swagger of Tom Jones—the singer.
Set not in Georgian England but in the mod, electric swirl of 1960s London, the musical reimagines Fielding’s wide-eyed romantic hero as a love-struck crooner chasing the one who got away. He does so with the help of more than twenty of Tom Jones’s greatest hits: “Delilah,” “Green Green Grass of Home,” “She’s a Lady,” and, of course, the show’s namesake, “What’s New Pussycat?”
“It’s a love letter to a time when London was the center of the universe,” Sheppard says. “We’re not spoofing the period—we’re celebrating it.”
The show is fronted by a cast that would feel at home on any Broadway marquee: Taylor Louderman (Mean Girls), Dominic Andersen (Heathers), Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer (Spamalot), John-Andrew Morrison (A Strange Loop), and Veanne Cox (Company), among others. They’re backed by a creative team heavy with international acclaim, including Olivier winner Dame Arlene Phillips (choreography), Olivier nominee Jon Bausor (set design), and Tony/Olivier honorees Howard Hudson (lighting) and Gareth Owen (sound).
The first run of What’s New Pussycat? debuted in Birmingham, England, to glowing reviews. The Telegraph called it “zesty, witty, detail-packed fun.” The Guardian praised its “sheer, high-voltage energy.” If early word holds, Broadway could be next.
Still, fusing the exuberance of a pop discography with the bones of a satirical 1749 novel isn’t without its creative risks. “It sounds like an impossible marriage,” DiPietro admits, “but there’s something undeniably theatrical about Tom Jones’s music. The songs are big. The emotions are bigger.”
And if the bet pays off, What’s New Pussycat? might just be the most unexpected—and joyfully raucous—musical love story of the year.
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