A musical adaptation of the classic TV series Gilligan's Island may head to Broadway, according to Deadline.com. Produced by Dianne Fraser, the show features a book by the series' late creator Sherwood Schwartz and his son Lloyd, as well as a score by Schwartz's daughter Hope and her husband Laurence Juber. No potential casting, theater or exact dates have been announced.
“It’s not intentionally campy," Fraser said of the musical, which was first workshopped in 1989 and has played engagements in Chicago, San Jose and more. "It’s funny in a broad way and very true to the show. It’s amazing how even kids know about it because they’ve seen it on Nick at Night. It’s still Gilligan, the bumbling sidekick to the professor, saving the world. And yes, it’s all seven characters, plus an alien."
The original series followed the comic adventures of seven castaways as they attempted to survive on island on which they had been shipwrecked. The series ran from 1964 to 1967 on CBS and starred Bob Denver as Gilligan, Alan Hale Jr. as Captain "the Skipper" Jonas Grumby, Dawn Wells as Mary Ann Summers, Jim Backus as Thurston Howell, III Natalie Schafer as Eunice "Lovey" Wentworth Howell, Tina Louise as Ginger Grant and Russell Johnson as "Professor" Roy Hinkley. The musical adaptation follows the gang as they encounter a mysterious U.F.O and alien visitor.
Fraser said there is a possibility of finding film stars to play the Howells, Ginger or the Professor, with an American Idol veteran potentially playing Gilligan.