Paul McCartney says he's "steaming along" on his musical adaptation of the classic movie It's a Wonderful Life.
Last week on Zoe Ball's BBC radio show, he recalled being approached by British theatrical producer -- and fellow Liverpudlian -- Bill Kenwright, who teamed him with Lee Hall, who wrote the musical Billy Elliot and penned the screenplay for the movie Rocketman.
From BBC RADIO 2: Paul McCartney talked about being approached by producer Bill Kenwright to score the musical adaptation of It's a Wonderful Life:
"At first, I said to Bill, when he asked me 'We've been resisting doing musicals for years.' 'Cause John and I got asked a lot. Because Lennon McCartney sounds like Rodgers and Hammerstein -- sounds like the kind of people who'd write musicals. Well, we always resisted it. So I said to him, I'm not sure I'm really keen. He said, 'Have a meeting with this guy, Lee Hall, and I think you might like him -- and I did."
Sir Paul is happy he trusted Kenwright and took him up on the offer. Similarly, he had doubts about doing James Corden's Carpool Karaoke, which turned into a huge worldwide success.He discussed that with BBC Radio 2 host Zoe Ball:
Paul: "You know, the last project I didn't fancy and I wasn't going to do was the James Corden.
Zoe: Carpool Karaoke.
Paul: I said, 'Oh, I don't fancy that.' And it was really... I caught a lot of trouble [laughs]. You've agreed to do I. And, of course, I loved that. And it did so amazingly well. So I ended up saying to Bill, look, you know, let's try this."
It's a Wonderful Life is expected to premiere in London in 2020, and hit Broadway sometime later.