Joel Kirk was immediately intrigued when he heard about “The Trouble with Dead Boyfriends.”
“I love a hyper-theatrical musical, with a clever premise and nuanced roles for actors,” Kirk said. “When I heard the hilarious title, I asked for the script. Immediately, I knew how to bring this brilliant monster musical comedy to life. From the monsters, to staging a prom, to the high-energy comedy — it screamed inherently theatrical and fun.”
Kirk, the founder of Discovering Broadway and a 2012 Carmel High School graduate, recently joined the musical as a director. This will be the sixth musical that Discovering Broadway has included in the incubation process. A five-day writers’ retreat, featuring directors, writers and actors Eric Wiegand and Emilia Suárez, started Nov. 1 at Hotel Carmichael in Carmel. Music from the show will be performed at 5 and 8 p.m. April 20 at The Toby in Newfields in Indianapolis.
The music and lyrics are by Alex Petti and the book and lyrics are by Annie Pulsipher.
“While I have been friends and fans of Alex and Annie for six years, this is our first collaboration,” Kirk said. “‘The Trouble with Dead Boyfriends’ is a love letter to the friends in our lives who help protect us from monsters and remind us to take care of ourselves. I believe young people today face far more monsters than I did growing up. I have an opportunity as a culture maker to help create compelling worlds where audiences can access resources to face monsters.”
The musical follows three best friends who summon undead boyfriends as prom dates. When the prom takes a turn for the worst, they have to fight for the town and their friendship.
Kirk said the comedy was originally developed at Carnegie Mellon’s Playground Festival. Most recently, the musical ran off-Broadway at the Players Theatre for a limited run this summer,
To sign up for the tickets presale list, visit discoveringbroadway.org.
