A retooled version of Flashdance, the musical based on the film, is aiming for Broadway in fall 2012. Will it dance in Toronto first?
Producer Thomas Viertel told the New York Times that Toronto's Sergio Trujillo has indeed signed on to direct and choreograph an overhauled version of the show.
Viertel wants to mount an out-of-town tryout before taking it to Broadway in the autumn of next year - so where better to do that than Trujillo's hometown?
Flashdance has Toronto written all over it. Former Toronto Life editor Tom Hedley co-wrote the script, based on his screenplay for the 1983 blockbuster about a welder-turned-dancer. The songs for Flashdance - save the pre-existing hit Flashdance... What a Feeling! - are composed by Torontonian Robbie Roth. And David Mirvish was an investor in an earlier London production that was directed by Nikolai Foster and received poor reviews.
Indeed, Trujillo has talked about wanting to return to work in the city where he grew up in interview after interview and even specifically told Canadian Press that he wanted to premiere Flashdance in Toronto earlier this year.
So, while a Toronto tryout hasn't officially been announced yet, I'd pencil it in for next fall.
