(L-R) Dusty Hill, Prem Akkaraju, Frank Beard, Jason Gastwirth, Billy Gibbons, Carl Stubner
A rock musical featuring ZZ Top hits called Sharp Dressed Man has been developed with an expected opening in 2020 in Las Vegas. The production is from Caesars Entertainment and includes the band’s members, Billy Gibbons, Dusty Hill and Frank Beard, as executive producers.
From the May 21 announcement: Sharp Dressed Man is an outrageous, bawdy musical romp about a Lone Star auto mechanic who becomes a modern-day Robin Hood, stealing hearts — and car parts — with the help of his merry band of beer drinkers and hell raisers. Featuring ZZ Top’s most beloved songs including “Legs,” “La Grange,” “Gimme All Your Lovin’” and “Cheap Sunglasses,” Sharp Dressed Man is a rock musical with a wicked sense of humor and a heart as big as Texas.
Producing the show with Caesars Entertainment’s Michael Gruber and Jason Gastwirth are Carl Stubner, ZZ Top’s longtime manager and executive producer of the documentary ZZ Top: That Little Ol’ Band from Texas, and Prem Akkaraju, executive producer of Tomorrowland: Ten Years of Unity, Love, Madness and Magic on MTV.
The show’s book is written by Robert Cary and Jonathan Tolins. The pair wrote the teleplays for Fox TV’s Emmy-winning Grease Live! as well as A Christmas Story Live.
“We’re excited about this fantastic project and look forward to hearing our music in a new innovative context,” said ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons. “Fans have often told us that we’ve provided the soundtrack to their lives, and this is very much in line with that kind of enthusiastic thinking.”
“I know firsthand that ZZ Top is an enduring phenomenon; they’re now about to celebrate 50 years of rocking audiences around he world,” said Stubner. “The show that Prem, Michael, Jason and I envision will utilize the band’s music and tremendous energy for audiences in a new immersive realm. This, just like ZZ Top, is all about having a good time at a great party and telling fun stories through their music.”
ZZ Top, whose lineup has remained constant since 1970, continues to be one of the world’s top touring attractions. On May 17-18-19, they embarked on a run of three sold-out concert dates on their home turf — Dallas, Houston, Austin – and have set an extensive tour schedule to follow throughout Europe and back in the United States in connection with the ongoing celebration of their 50th anniversary.
Tickets for ZZ Top’s 50th anniversary concerts are available here and here.
Related: A ZZ Top release is featured in our story, 11 Great Southern Rock Albums
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