Morrissey Musical In The Works

Hallelujah! Metro NY has more on the upcoming project: *Thomas Lennon may be best known as the skimpy shorts-wear­ing Lt. Jim Dangle on “Reno 911!,” but the actor has also written several mainstream movies, including “Night at the Museum” and “Balls of Fury.”

The image of Lennon as Dangle is an appropriate representation for his creative output. He strives to be normal, yet he wants to be himself, and by being himself, he is not quite normal, per se. “Balls of Fury” is also somewhere between absurd and mainstream. The concept of the FBI recruiting an Olympic table tennis has-been to bring an evil Ping-Pong enthusiast to justice is certainly not a candidate for a “based on a true story” disclaimer. Yet, at the spine of the story is the classic literary arc of the main character’s personal redemption and blooming love interest. “I think people thought it was going to be much weir­der than it is,” Lennon says. “But, in fact, it’s a rel­a­tively sincere kung fu movie.” Lennon and his writing partner, Robert Ben Garant (who plays Deputy Travis Junior on “Reno”), wrote the screenplay in 2000, before flicks like “Dodgeball” and “Blades of Glory” kicked off the current comedy trend of turning silly sports inside out for laughs.

“When ‘Dodgeball’ came out, it made people wake up and say, ‘Oh, where was that guy’s script about Ping-Pong?’ and it kind of rekindled interest,” says Lennon, though he and Garant are already beyond “Balls” anyway. “Ben and I both write compulsively,” he says. In the works, the two have “Night at the Museum 2” and one other project, which may be more chal­lenging to keep within the mainstream. “I have an outline in my head, like a ‘Mama Mia’-type musical, but with the music of Morrissey, called ‘I’ve Changed My Plea to Guilty,’” he says, complet­ely seriously. “It’s for a very diehard set of fans.”*

Pre-sale tickets for the majority of Morrissey's North American tour (dates here) go on sale tomorrow morning. Passwords: GREATESTHITS & SUEDEHEAD. You're welcome.

MP3: Morrissey - Best Friend On The Payroll