Sheik, who has already written the hit musical ‘Spring Awakening’, said to the Daily News he has written seven songs, although the musical is still far from been finished, as he declared:
‘Now we’re in the thick of it, … There’s a pretty long road still to go, but I’m psyched about it. The more time I spend on it, the more excited I get about it’.
He did not like the book when he bought it as an undergraduate at Brown University, and only got halfway through before throwing it across the room: ‘I found the book really frustrating’. Recently, he changed his mind, bought the book again, and finished it.
Musically speaking, I wonder what he is planning to do, as there is already a sort of soundtrack designed by Bateman himself, and all these Phil Collins, Huey Lewis and Whitney Houston’s references cannot be ignored.
Duncan Sheik said he chose dance music and electronic pop as its soundscape, and ‘envisions a four- or five-member band on stage with synthesizers and drum machines, a nod to moody bands like Kraftwerk or Depeche Mode. It’ll probably be 75 percent Duncan Sheik music and 25 percent music of the era and referenced in the book and/or movie.’
The musical may get to Broadway someday, but will probably make a debut in London or at a theater festival or even off-Broadway.
Sheik added jokingly:
‘I’m hoping this piece can make ‘Spring Awakening’ look like ‘The Wedding Singer’.
The novel, as everyone probably already knows, had already been adapted into a 2000 movie staring Christian Bale as Patrick Bateman, but when I got to see Bret Easton Ellis, he said the movie made Bateman appear as a serial killer mad man, which was not necessarily what he intended to do. He did not say a word about this musical project though.