The estate of late singing icon Whitney Houston is developing a stage biomusical adaptation of the upcoming biopic I Wanna Dance With Somebody, set to release later this year starring Naomi Ackie as Houston and featuring stage favorites Stanley Tucci and Tamara Tunie. News of the project was reported by Variety in an interview with Pat Houston, the singer's former manager and sister-in-law who serves as an executor of her estate.
The estate is reportedly working with Harry Potter and the Cursed Child producer Sonia Friedman on the project. No timeline is given on when the adaptation is expected to get a production.
The musical would not be the first stage work to draw from the eight-time Grammy Award winner's catalogue for its score; a stage adaptation of the 1992 film The Bodyguard—which included a starring role for Houston and a Grammy-winning soundtrack that introduced such iconic Houston hits as "I Will Always Love You," "I Have Nothing," "I'm Every Woman," "Run to You," and "Queen of the Night"—premiered in London's West End in 2012 with Tony winner Heather Headley in Houston's role and a songlist comprising songs both from the film's soundtrack and Houston's career. Though The Bodyguard has subsequently toured the U.S. and internationally, the work has not had a Broadway debut.
Houston, fondly remembered by theatre fans for her performance as the Fairy Godmother in the 1997 TV movie adaptation of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella, died in 2012 at the age of 48.
