Deadline is reporting an adaptation of the Robert Townsend musical film The Five Heartbeats is headed to Broadway.
Townsend told Deadline the play would “tell a similar story with music that people know from the movie, but there is a composer, Grammy-Award winner, a guy who has won some big awards who already said he will write an original song for us.”
The Five Heartbeats chronicled the journey of five band members in a musical band during the rise of the Motown era. The film, released in 1991, was written by Keenen Ivory Wayans and starred Robert Townsend, Michael Wright, Leon, Harry J. Lennix, Tico Wells, Harold Nicholas and Diahann Carroll. Wayans will also be on board to write the script for the play.
A documentary based on the development of the film, titled Making The Five Heartbeats, was released in limited theaters in August.
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