"That Thing You Do", Broadway-Style

Fri., May. 4, 2001 1:45 PM PDT by Emily Farache

Tom Hanks has conquered castaway island living, war-torn battlefields, outerspace and AIDS. What's left?

Doo-wopping on Broadway.

Hanks' 1996 movie directorial debut, That Thing You Do!, is apparently headed for the Great White Way. The Oscar-winning actor's production company, Playtone, has already hired musical director Des McAnuff (The Who's Tommy) to turn the film about fictional '60s popsters into a musical. Other details are top-secret as no one involved is talking.

Apparently schools around the country knew a stage musical when they saw one, and have barraged Playtone Productions with requests to use That Thing You Do! as the basis for their own stage show.

Set in Erie, Pennsylvania, That Thing You Do! tells the story of a pre-Beatles band called the Wonders and their quick rise (and fall) on the pop meter circa 1964. It was a time of innocence, when bands broke up because of girl problems, not drugs and murders, and didn't need a PR machine to get on TRL, local radio stations worked just fine. Hanks, who also wrote the film, plays a slick promoter who "helps" the band make it.

The film starred Tom Everett Scott (a ringer for a young Hanks), Johnathon Schaech, Steve Zahn and Liv Tyler, and the catchy title song (played nearly a dozen times during the movie) received an Oscar nomination. Hanks himself wrote or cowrote most of the songs.

While the musical project is just beginning to come together--more songs have to be written and Hanks' script adapted for the stage format--one of its biggest selling points is that name young singers could be enlisted for short stage stays.

Imagine Justin Timberlake or Nick Carter shaking his hips to a good ol' rock 'n' roll tune.

Hollywood-to-Broadway musicals are never a sure thing. Some recent entries like Saturday Night Fever, Footloose and Flashdance fizzled, while others, like The Producers, The Lion King and The Full Monty have been huge hits.

In the meantime, Playtone is producing the upcoming 10-part $120 million WWII miniseries Band of Brothers for HBO and the John Sayles-scripted drama A Cold Case, which Hanks will star in.

Ironically, Playtone (named for the fictional music label from the movie) has become a successful label in the real world. Distributed by Sony, Playtone has released soundtracks to Bring It On, Josie and the Pussycats and The Sopranos, in addition to--of course--That Thing You Do!