by Solomon Duane. @solomonduane.
LONDON - As Bad Cinderella prepares to close on Broadway, composer Andrew Lloyd Webber announced his next big plans to flip a well-known character on its head: Friendly Wile E. Coyote, based on the hit Looney Tunes animated series.
“After having a go at the fairy tale world, I thought it would be nice to try something a little less juvenile,” Webber noted, while using a Bad Cinderella playbill as a tea napkin. “I mean, everyone loves Wile E. Coyote, young and old, so maybe this time around they won’t be so nasty in the reviews.”
David Zippel, Webber’s previous collaborator, has signed on as lyricist.
“I grew up loving Looney Tunes, and there’s going to be some really cool plot twists in this story. I think by the act one finale, we’re not only going to love Wile E, but we’re going to relate to his sense of hopelessness in the face of Road Runner’s devious antics,” said Zippel, while scribbling “Nice Guy!” over a Devil Dogs label. “We want to make sure that Mr. Coyote comes across as an upstanding citizen who everyone grows to appreciate and respect. And seriously, what lyricist wouldn’t want the opportunity to rhyme ‘Wile E. Coyote’ with ‘I’ll be voting’? There’s going to be some great wordplay involved.”
David Zaslav, Warner Bros CEO, weighed in on the new IP adaptation.
“It’s about a fucking wolf and a bird, I don’t get what’s so revolutionary. But hey, we'll take all the writing we can get - without paying fair wages, of course - right now. If Andrew wants to do his thing, why the hell not? At least we can try making a new merch line.”
What’s next for the composer? Lloyd Webber expressed an interest in returning to his roots, with an all-out British celebration of the late monarch titled Queen Elizabeth the Tyrant. Sources indicate a straight-to-Broadway path, instead of a traditional West End opening.
Friendly Wile E. Coyote begins previews this week at the ACME Theater. VIP tickets include a glass of wine with a stick of dynamite at the bottom, a premium seat guaranteed to be free of falling anvils, and a t-shirt.