Hands on a Hardbody: new musical Broadway bound

The La Jolla Playhouse production of the new American musical Hands on a Hardbody will bow on Broadway in the 2012-2013 season.

Inspired by true events and based on S.R. Bindler and Kevin Morris' 1997 documentary of the same name, the musical features a book by Doug Wright (Pulitzer Prize winner, I Am My Own Wife), lyrics by Amanda Green (Bring It On: The Musical), and music by Trey Anastasio (Phish) and Amanda Green.

For ten hard-luck Texans, a new lease on life is so close they can touch it. Under a scorching sun for days on end, armed with nothing but hope, humor and ambition, they'll fight to keep at least one hand on a brand new truck in order to win it. In the hard-fought contest that is Hands on a Hardbody only one winner can drive away with the American Dream.

Theater, dates, casting, and ticket information for the Broadway production will be announced shortly.

The musical is to be produced on Broadway by Broadway Across America (John Gore, Thomas B. McGrath, Beth Williams), Rich Entertainment Group (Bob and Mindy Rich), Barbara Whitman, Latitude Link, Dede Harris, Sharon Karmazin, and Howard and Janet Kagan.

Directed by Neil Pepe (Speed-The-Plow) with musical staging by Benjamin Millepied (Black Swan), the world premiere production of Hands on a Hardbody opened on 12 May 2012 at La Jolla Playhouse (San Diego) and will play there through to 17 Jun 2012.

The La Jolla Playhouse production stars Keith Carradine, Allison Case, Jarrod Emick, Hunter Foster, Jay Armstrong Johnson, David Larsen, Kathleen Elizabeth Monteleone, Mary Gordon Murray, Connie Ray, Jon Rua, Keala Settle, Dale Soules, Jacob Ming Trent, Scott Wakefield and William Youmans. It is not known if any of the cast will reprise their roles for Broadway.

Hands on a Hardbody was commissioned by La Jolla Playhouse (Christopher Ashley, Artistic Director & Michael S. Rosenberg, Managing Director).