These latest rumors are just increasing our excitement about the prospect of a movie adaptation of The Drowsy Chaperone. First we heard that Tony and Oscar winner Geoffrey Rush was on board, then that Tony winner Hugh Jackman was “very interested in it,” and now director Fred Schepisi has revealed that both Les Miz Oscar winner Anne Hathaway and EGOT-er Barbra Streisand could be joining the Aussie actors.
“We’ve got Geoffrey Rush in it, and Hugh Jackman and Anne Hathaway interested, and possibly Barbra Streisand,” Schepisi told The Boston Globe. “We’ll see.”
Featuring a Tony-winning score by Lisa Lambert and Greg Morrison, the show within a show tells the story of an agoraphobic Broadway fanatic who listens to the cast album for the 1928 musical comedy The Drowsy Chaperone. As the recording plays, the characters magically appear in his apartment. The Drowsy Chaperone opened at Broadway's Marquis Theatre on May 1, 2006, and ran for 674 performances. The production garnered 13 Tony nominations and won four awards, including a Best Featured Actress in a Musical win for Beth Leavel. The Broadway cast also included Sutton Foster, Danny Burstein and Jennifer Smith.