these monoliths of popular culture? And above all, what
the hell does Ellis – a man who actually tweeted about
Glee
: “Every time I watch an episode I feel like I’ve
stepped into a puddle of HIV” – have to say about his
most famous masterpiece morphing into a musical?
“I might get in trouble for saying this,” Duncan
Sheik, music and lyric writer for the production, tells
me conspiratorially, when I manage to coax him out
of the rehearsal rooms, “but even though Bret’s seen
as a contemporary culture maven, I know for a fact
he’s a big musical theatre fan.”
Are you sure? On the Kickstarter appeal video,
Ellis can be seen asking, slightly hysterically: “Why
am I trusting these people with my work?!”
“He’s been very supportive from a distance,”
counters Sheik. “We gave him a CD of the first six songs
that were demos. He then admitted that he couldn’t
bring himself to listen to it for like a year – he was too
freaked out by the whole thing. But it’s all good. I’m sure
he’ll be here and he’ll be really psyched.”
I’m not allowed to peek into the rehearsal rooms
where Smith, aka Bateman, et al are ensconced, but –
this being the 21st century – the production team have
been blogging and tweeting behind-the-scenes photos.
There’s also a sneaky chance to hear one of the songs,
‘You are what you wear’, on the Kickstarter page. It’s
heavy on the 80s-style synth, and so catchy that the line
“If we’re having sake, it’s best to wear Issey Miyake,” has
been stuck in my head all afternoon.
Will it be, I ask hopefully, an all-80s soundtrack?
“We’re not being completely faithful to the period in
every way – most songs sound a lot more contemporary
than they sound 80s,” admits Sheik. “But there are these
passages in the book that are these hilarious armchair
critic thing that he goes into and we are using music
from some of those artists – some completely acapella
versions. They sound sinister and haunting and great.”
It seems a slick and impressive undertaking but the
format is still raising some eyebrows. Surely axe-murder
is a strange subject for a musical? Whatever happened to
raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens?
“Actually the musical theatre pieces that stand the
“I MIGHT GET IN TROUBLE FOR SAYING THIS,” SHEIK
TELLS ME CONSIRATORIALLY,
“BUT, EVEN THOUGH
BRET EASTON ELLIS IS SEEN AS A CONTEMPORARY
CULTURE MAVEN, HE’S A BIGMUSICAL THEATRE FAN.”
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