Will Elton John Bring the Beat of The Normal Heart to the London Stage?

As The Normal Heart, Larry Kramer’s moving play about the early days of the AIDS crisis in New York City, prepares to debut on Broadway, there is already speculation that it may find a home across the pond. According to the London Times,  to Sir Elton John and his longtime partner David Furnish, are eyeing a London production of the play.

"Elton and I would both like to make the production as widely seen as possible, and that includes helping fund and mount future versions of it wherever we can," said Furnish, who recently took in the landmark play at the Golden Theatre. Furnish claims that Kramer’s 1985 play "shamed" Elton John into doing more to fight AIDS, including founding the Elton John AIDS Foundation. He also called Kramer’s play "an astonishing, emotionally compelling piece of writing and a moving, fantastic piece of theater that the younger generation needs to see. Elton and I are focused on making sure that they do."

The play wouldn’t be a first foray into producing for John and Furnish; the pair teamed up for the 2010 Broadway premiere of Next Fall, Geoffrey Nauffts’ story of gay relationships and religion, and Furnish is the executive producer of John’s smash hit musical Billy Elliot, which is currently running on both Broadway and the West End.