In yet another movie-to-stage segue, red-hot English screenwriters Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais are at work on a stage version of the 1957 Elvis Presley classic "Jailhouse Rock".
The stage version of "Jailhouse Rock" will use the film's famed Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller score, which includes such hits as "Treat Me Nice", "Don't Leave Me Now" and the title tune. New songs are being written especially for the stage.
Rene Sheridan, lead producer on the project, said the additional material would be composed by a Grammy Award-winning composer to be announced next week. She expects the show to workshop in September in Los Angeles, with plans for a national tour to follow. She spent 10 years securing the rights to "Jailhouse Rock", the rights were very complicated since there is a split royalty: Leiber and Stoller controlled domestic and the Presley estate controlled the rest.