"Chicago" Inspires Musical Madness

First came Chicago-style pizza. Now, Chicago-style movies.

Miramax, which dominated last March's Oscars with the jazz-age showtuner, is back in the musical business, penciling Damn Yankees into its lineup.

Also in the works, according to reports: a Guys and Dolls redo and big-screen renderings of Pippin and Stephen Sondheim's Sweeney Todd. Like Damn Yankees, Guys & Dolls and Pippin are being eyed by Miramax, with Sweeney Todd being cooked up at rival DreamWorks.

So far, only Damn Yankees is official. Miramax announced Wednesday it's acquired the movie rights to the Broadway favorite. The studio assigned Neil Meron and Craig Zadan, late of Chicago, to produce.

Too soon for word on cast or a director. Not that he needs the push, but it should be noted Oscar-nominated Chicago helmer Rob Marshall has a working knowledge of the material--he choreographed the hit 1994 revival starring Bebe Neuwirth and Alias' Victor Garber and, later, Jerry Lewis.

The baseball-themed Damn Yankees, not to be confused with the redneck-themed Ted Nugent-Tommy Shaw band, debuted on Broadway in 1955, telling the story of a middle-aged baseball fan so sick of seeing his beloved Washington Senators lose to the expletive-deleted pinstripers that he sells his soul to the devil for a sweet swing and a chance to settle his grudge on the field. Hit songs included "Heart" (as in "You gotta have...") and "Whatever Lola Wants."

The show, originally choreographed by Chicago boss Bob Fosse, won seven Tony Awards. It was made into a 1958 movie with stage stars Ray Walston and Gwen Verdon reprising their roles as the devil and the devil's temptress, Lola, respectively. Screen-dream Tab Hunter played armchair athlete Joe Hardy.

"I see us updating Damn Yankees, modernizing it and really having fun with the role of the devil," Miramax main man Harvey Weinstein said in a statement.

To be sure, Damn Yankees needs some tweaks. The lowly Senators that so bewitched Joe Hardy folded after the 1959 season, morphing into the Minnesota Twins in 1961. Since today's playoff-caliber Twins bear little resemblance to their inept forefathers, modern-day audiences will need an all-new bad team with which to relate. Fortunately, that's why God made the Detroit Tigers.

Elsewhere on the musical circuit, Miramax is looking to tap the producing team of Meron and Zadan to roll the dice on a new version of Guys and Dolls, if the studio can seal the deal.

Frank Loesser's Tony-winning ode to New York gangsters (the guys) and their lady friends (the dolls) first showed up on the Broadway stage in 1950. Three revivals followed, including an all-black version in 1976 and a smash 1992 version with Nathan Lane.

Guys and Dolls previously was presented on film in 1955 with golden-throat Marlon Brando handling lead vocals as conflicted gambler Sky Masterson and actual singer Frank Sinatra relegated to backup duties as incorrigible craps player Nathan Detroit.

Meanwhile, the trades report that Miramax is also securing rights to Pippin. Another Fosse-helmed show, the 1972 Tony-winning musical originally starred Ben Vereen as the title character, the son of Roman Empire kingpin Charlemagne who embarks on a tune-filled quest to find himself. Again, no star or director is attached yet.

Steven Spielberg, meanwhile, is salivating over Sweeney Todd. DreamWorks exec Walter Parkes has been dispatched to sell composer Sondheim on the idea of transferring his cannibal musical to the big screen, Daily Variety's Army Archerd reports. Angela Lansbury starred in the original 1979 Broadway production.

All this activity after Chicago claimed six Oscars, including Best Picture, and more than $300 million at the worldwide box office.

Last spring, Chicago producer Martin Richards warned that musicals--once the glamour product of WWII-era Hollywood--can't just be cranked out.

"I just hope that they don't do one musical after another just because it's the flavor of the week," Richards told the Associated Press.

At least, in this wave, Hollywood is giving back to the theater.

DreamWorks has also given the okay for a musical-ized Broadway version of its hit Catch Me If You Can.

No word yet on auditions for the inevitable stewardess production number.