Elton John and David Furnish to Produce a Broadway Play

February 10, 2010

After writing music for two Broadway hits, Elton John will up his responsibility when he and his civil partner David Furnish co-produce a new play.

Sir Elton John

They will produce Next Fall, written by playwright Geoffrey Nauffts, which explores the trials and tribulations of a gay couple over a five-year period and the effect their religious beliefs have had on their relationship.

Next Fall was well-received during a brief off-Broadway run last summer.

“After fulfilling experiences bringing new musicals to the stage, it was seeing this inspiring and timely new work that attracted us to take on our first play," the two said in a statement.

As produces, John and Furnish will fund the project and have their names included on promotional material. The two have also announced their collaboration on the score for the film Showstopper.

John received a Tony nomination for writing the music for the hit Billy Elliot: The Musical. He has also written the score for the Lion King.

Regarding Billy Elliot, John once joked that he was bewildered by the fact that American audiences could enjoy a show "that features a bunch of Geordie miners tapdancing and singing folk songs."

Billy Elliot is now in its sixth year in London and opened in New York in 2008 to great applause by critics, becoming one of Broadway’s biggest hits.

Other major celebrities who have produced shows on Broadway include Jay-Z, who joined forces with Will Smith and his wife Jada Pinkett Smith to produce Fela! about the life of Nigerian musician Fela Anikulapo-Kuti.

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