Elton John’s life is to be made into a West End musical called Rocketman.
The production will be a stage adaptation of the upcoming movie biopic of the same name, starring Tom Hardy as the legendary singer, and will produced by the writers behind Billy Elliot the Musical.
“It’s in the works right now. It will be called Rocketman but we will do the film first,” Sally Greene, a producer for Billy Elliot the Musical, told the Sun:
“It will open in Broadway before London. It will be Elton’s back catalogue… he will never end his career.”
The soundtrack for the production will be made up of some of the 68-year-old’s biggest hits, and writers will include Lee Hall, who wrote the screenplay for the film. Hall also wrote the lyrics to the songs in Billy Elliot the Musical, for which Elton himself wrote the music.
Elton – born Reginald Kenneth Dwight – began his career as a pub pianist before finding success in the early 1970s. He has had over 50 top 40 hits and is estimated to have sold more than 250 million records worldwide throughout his five decade career.
A date for the West End version of Rocketman is yet to be confirmed, but with the movie and Broadway version to come first, it could be a while before London audiences get to see it.
Elton, who kicks off a new UK tour at the end of the month, was recently named the UK’s most charitable celebrity, and last month joined REM’s Michael Stipe in urging the US government to do more to protect trans prison inmates.
Meanwhile, the singer recently questioned whether homophobia was the reason his late father never came to see his shows, in an open letter to mark the 10 year anniversary of Billy Elliot the Musical – click here to find out more.
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