Acclaimed indie drama The Visitor, the 2007 Tom McCarthy tale starring Richard Jenkins as a lonely university professor who befriends the illegal immigrants that have moved into his empty New York flat, is to be the recipient of a musical makeover.
The Broadway-tipped production is being put together by composer Tom Kitt and writer-lyricist Brian Yorkey, the team behind current stage hit If/Then, starring Idina Menzel, of Oscar-winning Frozen fame. The pair also wrote the highly successful Next to Normal, which won the Pulitzer prize for drama and a Tony award for best original score in 2010 and 2009.
Jenkins was nominated for an Oscars for his turn in The Visitor as a widowed economics professor who arrives in Manhattan to discover that a young couple, respectively from Syria and Senegal, have moved into his flat following a real estate scam. Initially perturbed, the older man finds himself drawn to the carefree, undocumented djembe player, Tarek, and his jewellery designer girlfriend, Zainab. When Tarek is arrested and threatened with deportation, he mounts a one-man campaign in an effort to help his new friend secure his freedom.
At first glance, The Visitor appears to be an unlikely inspiration for a Broadway musical. However, the film’s iconic drum circle scenes in Central Park, in particular, might lend themselves to interpretation.
No timeline has been announced for the musical version, but it is understood an industry read-through has been scheduled for December.
