My Variety Review: Broadway Musical Based On 'Almost Famous'

Writer-director Cameron Crowe’s Oscar-winning screenplay about a teen rock journalist’s coming-of-age in the ’70s, “Almost Famous,” lands pretty much intact in Broadway’s latest pedestrian film-to-stage adaptation. For those who love the 2000 semi-autobiographical film, this version provides almost a complete re-enactment of the original (via a book written by Crowe), with some new songs (by Tom Kitt and Crowe) mixed with a sizable set-list of tunes from the era.

It’s all entertaining enough — and no doubt a particular draw for the nostalgic baby-boomer-plus crowd — but there’s nothing extraordinary in the transformation to the stage. Not even almost.

Still, for those who missed this gem of a movie — and even for those fans who are fine with a by-the-number live version — there are pleasures to be found. After all, Crowe has fashioned a wonderfully observed story with colorful-yet-nuanced characters, authentic details and humor both sharp-eyed and low-hanging. (“If you think Mick Jagger will still be out there trying to be a rock star at age 50, you’re sadly, sadly mistaken,” pronounces one record company manager.)

It’s all set in a transitional time when the outlaw music and free spirits of the ’60s were being bridled, branded and repurposed for an all-consuming commercial industry. That loss of innocence is a theme that Crowe artfully incorporates into the arcs of his main characters, too, especially of precocious yet wide-eyed teen William Miller (an appealing Casey Likes), Crowe’s stand-in and a kind of rock-n-roll Pippin.

Drawn to the albums that his older sister Anita (Emily Schultheis) gives him, 15-year-old William is….|CONTINUED|