New Musical Hands on a Hardbody Is Headed for Broadway

Hands on a Hardbody, a new musical based a 1997 documentary film of the same name, will open on Broadway in the 2012-2013 season. The show’s world premiere production opened on May 12 at La Jolla Playhouse in California and will run there through June 17, directed by Neil Pepe (Speed-the-Plow). Theater, dates and casting for the Broadway production will be announced shortly.

Inspired by true events and based on S.R. Bindler and Kevin Morris’ acclaimed 1997 film, Hands on a Hardbody 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 (of the rock band Phish) and Green. The show features musical staging by Benjamin Millepied (Black Swan).

Hands on a Hardbody centers on 10 hard-luck Texans, who enter a contest in which they must keep at least one hand on a new truck in order to win it. Armed with nothing but hope, humor and ambition, they'll fight for the prize knowing that just one winner can drive away with the American Dream.

The La Jolla production has a cast that includes Keith Carradine, Hunter Foster, Allison Case, Jay Armstrong Johnson, Keala Settle, Scott Wakefield, David Larsen, Dale Soules, Kathleen Elizabeth Monteleone, Jon Rua, Jacob Ming Trent, Mary Gordon Murray and Jim Newman.

Hands on a Hardbody will be produced 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.