Taika Waititi and Rita Ora are creating a stage musical primarily based on the infamous Fyre Pageant, the ill-fated 2017 occasion that left influencers stranded within the Bahamas and its founder, Billy McFarland, behind bars.
The music pageant that promised luxurious villas, gourmand meals, and blink-and-you-miss-them superstar selfies – however delivered cheese sandwiches and chaos – is getting a second act.
The manufacturing, titled Fyre Fest The Musical, will probably be a musical comedy tracing McFarland’s rise and spectacular fall.
In 2018, McFarland pleaded responsible to a number of counts of fraud and later served time in federal jail.
His disastrous pageant turned the topic of dueling documentaries on Netflix and Hulu, cementing its place in popular culture as a generation-defining debacle.
Filmmaker Bryan Buckley – greatest recognized for his wry Tremendous Bowl commercials – will direct the present and pen its e-book.
Oscar- and Grammy-winning songwriter Paul Epworth is onboard to compose the rating, whereas celebrated designer David Korins (Hamilton) will create the set.
Waititi, who gained an Oscar for Jojo Rabbit, and Ora, worldwide pop sensation and Waititi’s companion, are producing alongside Buckley’s Hungry Man Productions and Matthew Weaver.
In a press release to The Hollywood Reporter, Waititi stated: ‘Working within the theater is all the time enjoyable. I imply I haven’t executed it for 15 years as a result of it was not enjoyable, however I’ve been instructed it is going to be enjoyable this time.
‘And I imagine them. When Bryan Buckley instructed me he needed to make a musical in regards to the Fyre Pageant, I stated “Who the hell is Bryan Buckley?” I then remembered we’ve been mates and work mates for 15 years so it was kinda arduous to say no.’
He continued along with his trademark humour: ‘Truthfully, I believe the concept is thrilling, bizarre, and doubtlessly disastrous, which appears apt and is how I wish to work.’
Buckley echoed the sense of absurdity that also clings to Fyre Pageant years later: ‘I by no means noticed myself doing a theatrical musical comedy. However then once more, I by no means noticed one thing fully mind-bendingly ridiculous and intriguing as what went down with Fyre Pageant.
‘A spectacular failed endeavor—that may hang-out a era endlessly. I can not wait to get this present out to the world. And yeah man, this time there’ll really be music or your a reimbursement.’
Whereas Fyre Fest The Musical has but to announce whether or not it’s headed for Broadway or elsewhere, the crew is already leaning into spectacle.
On Monday, the manufacturing will launch with a publicity stunt: anchoring a 100-foot barge in Brooklyn, accompanied by guerrilla artwork installations rolling out all through the week.
If the unique Fyre Fest was a masterclass in how not to stage an occasion, its theatrical retelling might show that even catastrophe may be remixed into leisure.
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