What’s new, pussycat?
A new musical about Tom Jones called — whoa, whoa! — “What’s New Pussycat?”
When I say Tom Jones, I don’t mean pop singer Tom Jones, but the fictional character of Henry Fielding’s 1749 comic novel “The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling.”
“What’s New Pussycat” uses the songs made famous by Tom Jones the singer to tell the story of Tom Jones the character. Got it? Now wrap your head around this: In the musical, Fielding’s Tom Jones has been turned into a singer from ’60s London who resembles, well, Tom Jones the singer.
Talk about keeping up with the Joneses.
“There may be a little confusion,” says producer Flody Suarez. “But believe me, it all makes sense and ties up very neatly.”
Writer Joe DiPietro (“Memphis,” “All Shook Up”) is responsible for all these twists and turns.
When Suarez approached him about doing a jukebox musical of Tom Jones songs, DiPietro read the singer’s biography. He learned that Jones, born Thomas Woodward, took his stage name from Fielding’s character. Then DiPietro picked up the book — heavy lifting, since it’s nearly 900 pages long.
“It’s brilliantly witty and funny, but you do think, ‘OK, let’s move along here,’” he says. “But I was struck by the last third, which takes place in London.”
“Tom Jones” chronicles the adventures of a sexy bad boy as he makes his way to maturity. A critic of the day called it “a motley history of bastardism, fornication and adultery.” Sounds like a rave to me.
DiPietro updated the action to London in the swinging ’60s, when the singer’s hits (“Pussycat,” “Delilah,” “It’s Not Unusual”) were written. All of them are in the show, but the number that really got the room rocking was “Sex Bomb,” which topped the charts in England but didn’t get any traction here.
Director Scott Ellis (“She Loves Me”) staged a reading of “What’s New Pussycat?” a few weeks ago in London. Executives from the Ambassador Theatre Group, which owns theaters in London and New York, attended.
“We were a little nervous about the suits,” says a source, “because you never know how they’re going to react. But everybody was rocking away. It’s bright and fun, and the cast was great.”
Richard Fleeshman (“Ghost”) played Tom Jones. Hannah Waddingham (“Game of Thrones”) was the older woman who seduces him. Haydn Gwynne (the dance teacher in “Billy Elliot”) was also part of the cast.
Tom Jones wasn’t there because, at 77, he’s still touring. But his son and daughter-in-law, who manage his career, were there and gave the go-ahead for a full production.
Suarez hopes to keep the cast together for a tryout early next year in Wales, where Jones was born. Then it’s on to the West End in the spring, and Broadway in 2019.
“I think this is a show that can play everywhere,” says Suarez, “because who doesn’t love Tom Jones?” The singer!