INXS Stages A Comeback
As INXS fans prepare to mark the 18th anniversary of frontman Michael Hutchence’s apparent suicide on Nov. 22, 1997, renewed interest in the Australian alternative-rock band has helped its longtime manager Chris Murphy land a critical creative partner to produce INXS: The Musical. As Billboard reported in September, Murphy is working to bring the theatrical project to the stage in Sydney, London and New York, and he tells Overheard that the vaunted New York Theatre Workshop is now onboard to stage the show with him. The off-Broadway company spawned the successful musicals Rent and Once and on Nov. 18 began performances of the hotly anticipated Lazarus, which will feature music and a book written by David Bowie. An insider says a director will be announced shortly and that the musical is on track to open by 2017. The source also says INXS: The Musical will not be autobiographical but a production in which the band’s music will be set to the plot of a well-known novel that was adapted into a film. Through a spokeswoman, Murphy told Overheard: “Michael Hutchence wrote some of the sexiest lyrics in music. And soon they will be heard in theaters around the globe.”
Feliz Navidad, Donald!
Seth MacFarlane sent an early Christmas wish to Donald Trump on Nov. 14. Alluding to the presidential candidate’s anti-Mexico tirades, the Family Guy creator opened The Grove Christmas With Seth MacFarlane musical celebration in Los Angeles by telling the crowd, “Merry Christmas, but to Donald Trump, Feliz Navidad.” Guests included Meghan Trainor, who sang Justin Bieber’s “Mistletoe” while playing the ukulele and could be seen practicing in the lobby of the cineplex beforehand.