Posted by Andrew Unterberger on 09/20/2011 at 5:36 PM News

The Popdust Files: musical, sheryl crow

We like Diner, director Barry Levinson’s Baltimore-in-the-’50s set sitcom-style coming-of-age flick. We also like Sheryl Crow, at least when she’s singing about leaving Las Vegas and the sun coming up over Santa Monica Boulevard. So we guess we don’t have any problem with Crow penning the music and lyrics for the upcoming Diner musical, likely coming to Broadway sometime next year. “I was already a huge fan of ‘Diner’ when Barry first approached me about writing a score for a theatrical retelling of his film,” explained to told the New York Times. “I knew exactly who these men and women were and I feverishly began writing.”

Fair enough, but we’re confused about a couple things. First off: How the hell are they making Diner into a musical? Beyond a couple anecdotal incidents and some endless pop culture debates, the movie barely even has a plot, and certainly not one that lends it itself easily to big numbers and act breaks and whatnot. Secondly: Why on earth would they think to ask Sheryl Crow to work on this? Doesn’t the movie taking place in the late ’50s mean that they should maybe use music from then, or at least that sounds like it could be from then? Is Sheryl Crow—who’s got a good sense of musical history, sure but is hardly a retro act—really the right woman for the job?

All will be revealed in time, no doubt. In the meantime, the most important question: Will Steve Guttenberg be involved in any way? If not, this is all sort of a moot point.

[Billboard]