Skip to main content
nestruck on theatre

In this image released by Warner Bros. Records, musician Wayne Coyne is shown in a scene from Christmas on Mars.

The Flaming Lips musical is getting closer to reality, according to singer Wayne Coyne.

Directed by Stratford Shakespeare Festival artistic director Des McAnuff, the long-in-gestation stage adaptation of the American psychedelic band's 2002 album Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots is now "in the early stages of production", Coyne told Billboard.

A spokesperson from Stratford confirmed that McAnuff will head down to his old theatre in California - the La Jolla Playhouse, where the project is being developed - to work with the musical director for a few days after opening the current festival season. A premiere date, however, has not yet been set.

McAnuff has had Broadway success shepherding popular music to the stage twice in the past - with his 1993 production of The Who's Tommy and his current international hit, Jersey Boys, about Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons.

Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots "has really become a perfect combination of my fantastical robot-world vision and [McAnuff's]little, internal, humanistic version of what that music is," Coyne said. "I really believe it could work -- and luckily I don't have to do much!"

Follow related authors and topics

Authors and topics you follow will be added to your personal news feed in Following.

Interact with The Globe