A Broadway jukebox musical about “Weird Al” Yankovic is in the works, Deadline reports. Titled Dare to Be Stupid, its soundtrack will be comprised of parody songs from throughout Yankovic’s extensive spoof oeuvre, including “White & Nerdy” (his take on “Ridin’” by Chamillionaire), “Amish Paradise” (Coolio’s “Gangsta’s Paradise”), “Eat It” (“Beat It”), “Like a Surgeon” (“Like a Virgin”) and “Smells Like Nirvana” (this one’s pretty obvious).
“Ever since I was a middle-aged man, I’ve always wanted to be a part of the New York theatre community,” Yankovic said in a statement to Deadline. “Plus, the one thing people always say about Broadway is that it’s ‘severely lacking in Weird Al-based entertainment,’ and I think this musical should fix that problem immediately.”
Dare to Be Stupid is being directed by Alex Timbers, who previously helmed All In—a Broadway show built around the Magnetic Fields’ 69 Love Songs—as well as David Byrne and Fatboy Slim’s disco musical Here Lies Love. Yankovic was the subject of the 2022 biopic Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, which starred Daniel Radcliffe in the titular role. He has a whopping 90 shows across North America lined up between now and mid-October.
Revisit Madison Bloom’s review of the Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, The “Weird Al” Movie Is a Goofball’s Paradise.