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'Almost Famous' Musical Will Premiere In San Diego This Fall

almost famous musical premiere
By Chris Evangelista/

Cameron Crowe's Almost Famous will jump from screen to stage this fall, as an Almost Famous musical heads to San Diego. Based on Crowe's acclaimed 2000 film about a teen journalist on assignment with an up-and-coming rock band, the new musical will feature music by Tom Kitt, with lyrics by Kitt and Crowe. More on Almost Famous: The Musical below.

Almost Famous

It's been almost 20 years since Cameron Crowe's Almost Famous enchanted everyone (except me), and now the rock drama is headed to the stage. The film, based on Crowe's real-life experiences, is set in 1973, and "chronicles the funny and often poignant coming of age of 15-year-old William, an unabashed music fan who is inspired by the seminal bands of the time. When his love of music lands him an assignment from Rolling Stone magazine to interview the up-and-coming band Stillwater — fronted by lead guitar Russell Hammond and lead singer Jeff Bebe William embarks on an eye-opening journey with the band's tour, despite the objections of his protective mother." The film was nominated for four Academy Awards, and won Crowe a Best Original Screenplay Oscar.

A potential stage musical adaptation was announced last year, and now, we have official word that Almost Famous: The Musical will debut on September 13 at San Diego's Old Globe Theatre. The official opening night will then take place on September 27, with the musical running at the Old Globe until October 20. "It's all so San Diego to me, the whole experience," Crowe said in an interview about the project. "So when the play started to become a reality, and the conversation came up — like, 'Where would you want to put up the play and learn from it? There's this place, there's this place, there's the Old Globe' — I'm like, 'The Old Globe!'"

Crowe confirmed that Elton John's "Tiny Dancer", which plays a big part in the movie, will be featured in the musical. But he's tight-lipped regarding the make-up of the rest of the music: "You know what, I'm going to keep that slightly mysterious for you right now. But it's our favorite thing in the world — what that musical stew will be."

"There was no reason to really revisit the story except if it was a continuation of the same kind of love letter to music and San Diego and community and all that stuff," Crowe added. "The breakthrough was making sure it was as personal as the movie. Because it's a personal story."

Crowe wrote lyrics for the new musical with Tom Kitt, with Kitt also composing the music. Kitt has a background in turning films into musicals: he also wrote music for adaptations of High Fidelity, Freaky Friday, Dave, and Bring It On (which also featured music from Hamilton's Lin-Manuel Miranda).

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