Thelma & Louise Musical Premieres at Young Vic 35 Years After Film Debut

3 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Sep 8

London’s Young Vic has opened Callie Khouri’s stage musical of Thelma & Louise, starring Rachel Tucker and Amy Lennox after roughly a decade in development.
Khouri, 68, long resisted turning the 1991 film into a musical, but said the project gained momentum when producer Sonia Friedman joined and T-Bone Burnett suggested Neko Case as composer.
The production keeps the story in its original pre-mobile-phone era while reworking it for the stage, with direction by Trip Cullman and choreography by Bobbi Jene Smith and Or Schraiber.
Khouri said the film’s themes still feel current 35 years on, pointing to persistent sexism, assault and the rollback of abortion rights in the United States.
She also cast the theater move as a creative alternative to a film and TV business she says is increasingly driven by algorithms, sequels and franchise IP.