Two-Time Tony Winner Joe DiPietro on Tom Jones Musical What’s New, Pussycat?: Broadway Run a 'Distinct Possibility'

What’s New, Pussycat?, a new musical based on Henry Fielding's 1979 novel The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, could be bound for Broadway. The show received a July 14 reading in London under the direction of Tony nominee Scott Ellis.

The musical tells the story of the novel's bad-boy title character through the songs of famed singer Tom Jones ("It's Not Unusual," "Delilah," "She's a Lady"), who happens to have the same name as the book's main role. The July 14 reading starred Broadway veteran Richard Fleeshman (Ghost) as the title character alongside Hannah Waddingham (Spamalot).

Two-time Tony winner Joe DiPietro, who has penned the show's book, is hopeful for the new work's future. "The show is currently scheduled to premiere in Wales next spring, and then open on the West End," said DiPietro, who noted that U.K. dates and venues are in the works.

Productions across the pond seem a sure thing, but will What's New, Pussycat? land on the Great White Way? "Broadway, of course, is a distinct possibility," said DiPietro. "But it wouldn't be till after our West End premiere."