It’s hard to outfox a movie studio, but Broadway’s Douglas Carter Beane seems to have done just that.
The Tony-nominated playwright has long wanted to turn his 1995 cult movie To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar into a musical.
Patrick Swayze starred in the 1995 movie "To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar."
Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Entertainment produced the movie and Universal Studios distributed it. That would usually mean they’d control the destiny of all things To Wong Foo forever.
Except for one little detail.
Back then, before most studios thought about getting into the theater business, Beane asked for the stage rights.
“I think they thought that was endearing,” he says. “‘Isn’t that sweet? He likes to do wood carving, too.’ So they patted me on the head — and gave them to me.”
Click here for the full article published on NYPost.com by Michael Riedel on February 6, 2018.