‘Scotland, PA’ 2001 Cult Film Set For Off Broadway Musical Adaptation

A new musical based on the 2001 cult film Scotland, PA will get its world premiere in September at the Roundabout Theatre Company’s Off Broadway stage, the company announced today.

Directed by Lonny Price (Master Harold and the Boys), Scotland, PA will feature a book by Michael Mitnick, music and lyrics by Adam Gwon, and choreography by Josh Rhodes. The limited engagement will begin on Saturday, September 14, with an opening night on Thursday, October 15, at the Roundabout’s Laura Pels Theatre.

Cast and the full creative team will be announced later.

The 2001 dark comedy film (see poster above), directed and written by William Morrissette, starred James Le Gros, Maura Tierney and Christopher Walken in a modern re-telling of Shakespeare’s Macbeth (LeGros played Joe ‘Mac’ McBeth). Set in 1975, the movie placed the Scottish Play’s doings in a small cafe in Scotland, Pennsylvania.

Roundabout’s description of the musical reads: “In Scotland, PA, revenge is a dish best served with fries. This deliciously dark new musical comedy, based on the cult film (and the bard’s Macbeth), springs to life in a sleepy Pennsylvania town (population 1,203—and dropping), where a burger-joint manager and his wife cook up a plan to super-size their lives. As their ambitions grow and the bodies fall, the couple finds out just how far they’ll go for a taste of the oh-so-tempting American dream.”

Roundabout commissioned Gwon for the musical following the 2009 debut of his musical Ordinary Days for the company’s Roundabout Underground. The new musical has been in development at Roundabout with multiple readings and creative team workshops since 2014.