New Loretta Lynn Musical In Development With Sutton Foster As Star
A musical about country music star Loretta Lynn’s life is under development with Sutton Foster attached as the star.
Jeanine Tesori, a Tony Award-winning composer who worked on Fun Home, Kimberly Akimbo, Caroline, or Change, Thoroughly Modern Millie and more, is working on the show’s music production. Sam Gold, a Tony Award-winning director who worked on Fun Home with Tesori, as well as recent productions of Romeo+Juliet and An Enemy of the People, is attached as the director.
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The musical, entitled Coal Miner’s Daughter, is inspired by the 1980 film and the autobiography about Lynn’s journey from rural Kentucky to becoming a country music star. The stage show will include songs from Lynn’s career, which include “I’m a Honky Tonk Girl” and “Coal Miner’s Daughter,” and extend her story beyond the film.
In 2012, Lynn had announced that Zoey Deschanel would portray her in a Broadway musical about her life.
The producing team includes Kristin Caskey, Mike Isaacson, Bee Carrozzini and ATG Entertainment. Lynn’s manager, producer and daughter, Patsy Lynn, and longtime adviser, Nancy Russell, will act as consulting producers.
Foster is two-time Tony Award winner who recently starred on Broadway in The Music Man, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, and Once Upon a Mattress. She won her Tony Awards for her starring roles in Thoroughly Modern Millie and Anything Goes.
“We are so grateful to see that our mother’s life story and music will continue to touch the hearts of audiences and remain an important statement of the American dream,” the family of Loretta Lynn said in a statement. “As one of the last creative projects our mom was so passionate about, we are thankful that she had the opportunity to experience the initial stages of Sutton’s sincere portrayal of Loretta. Mom absolutely fell in love with her and thought she was just the right person to play her onstage. The family is moved by this incredible team’s commitment to her legacy.”
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