By MARK KENNEDY AP Entertainment Writer
NEW YORK (AP) — Lin-Manuel Miranda and Eisa Davis are turning their concept album “Warriors” into a full-length Broadway show.
The story — originally a 1965 novel that was made into a cult, dystopian 1979 film — follows a street gang called the Warriors as they make their way from the Bronx to their home turf of Coney Island in Brooklyn while being hunted by rivals gangs and cops. It will be the first full musical from Miranda since “Hamilton.”
The musical of “Warriors” is expected to begin previews next March and open next April at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre. “Warriors” will be directed by Jenny Koons with a book by Miranda and Davis. No casting was announced.
“Musicalizing such a vibrant world for the concept album has been a thrill, and now we’re coming out to play on Broadway at the Lunt-Fontanne. We can’t wait,” Miranda and Davis said in a statement Tuesday.
Miranda and Davis released their album in 2024, keeping the bones of the story but making strategic changes in genders, like making the Warriors all women. The album had an astonishing list of artists playing various parts: Ms. Lauryn Hill, Nas, Busta Rhymes, Billy Porter, Ghostface Killah, RZA, Marc Anthony, Colman Domingo, Cam’ron, Shenseea and Joshua Henry, among them.
The album included the sounds of salsa, ska, agro-rock, boy band, pop, old-school rap and even K-pop. Spanish and Korean mixes with the English. It has the song “We Got You,” a seductive R&B tune delivered by a male gang wearing cardigans, and “Quiet Girls,” a feminist anthem.