Melissa Etheridge is currently starring in her one-woman show on Broadway, My Window, in which she tells the audience her life story, punctuated by her hit songs. But she says what she really wants to do is write something completely new for the Great White Way.
“I would want to create it from the ground up, and create the music around the characters and create a story that moves people,” she tells ABC Audio. “So that’s my dream.”
Back in 2019, it seemed like Melissa’s dream would come true. That’s when it was reported that she was writing the score for a stage musical based on the 1988 Julia Roberts movie Mystic Pizza. But she says it didn’t quite work out that way.
“At the time, I thought they wanted me to, like, create original music for it and that really excited me,” she says. “But then I realized they just wanted kind of a jukebox musical. And I was like, “Oh, no, no, no … you go ahead."”
They did, creating a musical using pop hits of the ’80s — Melissa let them use her song “I’m the Only One.”
As Melissa continues her Broadway run, would she encourage other rock and pop stars to stage autobiographical shows on Broadway, like she and Bruce Springsteen have done?
“If it delights them, if it brings them joy,” she says. “I mean, I have been in love with Broadway since I was a child, so I have always had a dream of … coming and doing something here.”
But, she cautions, “I wouldn’t recommend it for someone who isn’t into the very rigorous … work that it entails. But it is very, very rewarding for me.”
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