Whitty, Scissor Sisters’ Shears & J.J. Set for Tales of the City Musical

A musical adaptation of Armistead Maupin’s best-selling novel Tales of the City is expected to arrive on Broadway during the 2009-10 season. It will feature a book by Jeff Whitty, music by the Scissor Sisters’ Jason Sellards (aka Jake Shears) and John Garden (aka J.J.), lyrics by Sellards, and will be directed by Jason Moore.

Tales of the City is a deeply-felt portrait of the sexually and politically-charged 1970’s and a wry comedy of manners. It follows the comic adventures of a young Midwestern woman who moves to 28 Barbary Lane and encounters a host of eccentric characters whose lives intertwine in surprising ways. Maupin began what has become a seven-volume epic as a serialization in the San Francisco Chronicle. The musical will cover events from the first book, and some aspects of the second. Tales of the City was also previously adapted as a television mini-series for both PBS and Showtime.

Sellards co-founded the disco, glam rock and pop band Scissor Sisters in 2001 and is the band’s lead male vocalist. The band’s albums include their self-titled debut cd, followed by Remixed! and the most recent Ta-Dah. Garden is the Scissor Sisters’ keyboardist and shares songwriting credit on the group’s cd Ta-Dah.

Whitty won the 2004 Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical for Avenue Q. His other plays include The Further Adventures of Hedda Gabler, The Plank Project, Balls, and The Hiding Place. Moore directed the Tony-winning Avenue Q, the Broadway revival of Steel Magnolias, and will be directing the upcoming Shrek: The Musical.