What A Feeling!

Flashdance, the film responsible for a whole generation's fondness for leotards and legwarmers, is set to be the next in a long line of movies-to-musicals to hit Broadway. The 1983 film, directed by Adrian Lyne, will follow in the footsteps of The Lion King, The Full Monty and Footloose in being transferred from screen to stage. Giorgio Moroder's hit song Flashdance... What a Feeling from the original movie will feature in the musical, and he has been working with lyricist Michael Kunze on new material. Susan Weaving, vice president of William Morris' touring division, and the woman responsible for bringing Flashdance to the stage, said "The film is so performance-oriented... you're not adapting a soundtrack to characters, which is always the challenge with movie-to-stage adaptations. The film is about live performance". No casting has been done yet for the production, which should debut in 2002. Jennifer Beals, who played the welder with dreams of becoming a ballet dancer, had a dance double for the movie. But the theatrical lead would have to do all her own singing and dancing.