Sharp Dressed Man, The ZZ Top Musical
Sharp Dressed Man (“SDM”) is being developed in conjunction with the La Jolla
Playhouse, with the goal of opening at the Playhouse in January, 2012.
The first step is to invest $100,000 in a “29-hour Reading” and other development
costs, which will be completed in October/November, 2010.
The 29-hour reading will be directed by Chris Ashley, the acclaimed Artistic Director
of the La Jolla Playhouse, and the Director of Memphis, winner of the 2010 Tony
Award for Best Musical. Ashley, a 2010 Tony nominee for Best Director for
Memphis, has directed the Broadway productions of Xanadu (Drama Desk
nomination), All Shook Up, and The Rocky Horror Show (Tony, Drama Desk and
Outer Critics Circle Award nominations).
All productions of SDM (La Jolla Playhouse, Broadway, touring, etc), will be
directed by Chris Ashley.
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About the La Jolla Playhouse
LA JOLLA PLAYHOUSE, a Tony Award-winning professional non-profit theatre, is located in the
San Diego coastal suburb of La Jolla, California.
Its mission is to advance theatre as an art form and as a vital social, moral and political platform by
providing unfettered creative opportunities for the leading artists of today and tomorrow. With a
youthful spirit and eclectic, artist-driven approach, the Playhouse cultivates a local and national
following with an insatiable appetite for audacious and diverse work.
The Playhouse has received more than 300 awards for theatre excellence, including the 1993
Tony Award as America's Outstanding Regional Theatre. La Jolla Playhouse is nationally
acclaimed for its innovative productions of classics, new plays and musicals. Led by Artistic
Director Christopher Ashley and Managing Director Michael S. Rosenberg, the Playhouse was
founded in 1947 by Gregory Peck, Dorothy McGuire and Mel Ferrer.
Scores of Playhouse productions have moved to Broadway, garnering a total of 29 Tony Awards,
including Jersey Boys, Memphis, The Who's Tommy, How to Succeed in Business Without
Really Trying, Big River , A Walk in the Woods, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Dracula, Billy
Crystal's 700 Sundays, and the Pulitzer Prize-winning, I Am My Own Wife.
The Playhouse also presents a wide range of education programs that enrich the community and
serve the maximum number of children, students and adults
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“On to Broadway” with an Extraordinary Track Record !
La Jolla Playhouse has created 18 productions that have
transferred to Broadway, earning 26 Tony Awards. An
additional 35 productions have gone on to successful runs OffBroadway, and to regional theatres across the country,
including the Kennedy Center, Chicago’s Goodman Theatre
and the Humana Festival, as well as to international venues in
London, Brussels, Rotterdam, and Moscow.
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Christopher Ashley, Director
Artistic Director
La Jolla Playhouse
Mr. Ashley was recently nominated for several awards for Memphis, including a
Tony Award nomination for Outstanding Director of a Musical. Mr. Ashley has
served as La Jolla Playhouse’s Artistic Director since October, 2007. During
his tenure, he helmed Restoration and the acclaimed musicals Xanadu, and
the 2010 Tony Award winner for Best Musical, Memphis. He also spearheads
the Playhouse’s Resident Theatre program and was instrumental in developing
THE EDGE series. Prior to joining the Playhouse, he directed the Broadway
productions of Xanadu (Drama Desk nomination), All Shook Up and The Rocky
Horror Show (Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Award nominations),
as well as the Kennedy Center Sondheim Celebration productions of Sweeney
Todd and Merrily We Roll Along. Other New York credits include: Blown
Sideways Through Life, Jeffrey (Lucille Lortel and Obie Awards), The Most
Fabulous Story Ever Told, Valhalla, Regrets Only, Wonder of the World,
Communicating Doors, Bunny Bunny, The Night Hank Williams Died, Fires in
the Mirror (Lucille Lortel Award), among others. Mr. Ashley also directed the
feature film, Jeffrey, and the American Playhouse production of Blown
Sideways Through Life for PBS. Mr. Ashley is the recipient of the Princess
Grace Award, the Drama League Director Fellowship and an NEA/TCG
Director Fellowship.
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Additional Team
Executive Producers
Billy Gibbons, Dusty Hill and Frank Beard (Members of ZZ Top)
Producers
Carl Stubner
Manager of ZZ Top, Executive producer of ZZ Top: Live in Texas DVD, Rock Star Supernova on CBS, Tommy Lee Goes to College on NBC,
Alanis Morissette: The Collection
Prem Akkaraju
Executive Producer of Street Dancing with Oscar award winning musician AR Rahman, 15 years experience in forming and investing over $500
million in media and entertainment company at Salomon Brothers Inc, JPMorgan Entertainment Partners and InterMedia Partners. Companies
include Soul Train, AtomFilms (sold to MTV), Rykodisc (sold to Warner Music Group), Vice Media Group, Gospel Music Channel, Universal
Sports, Rocket Network (sold to Avid). 2004 MBA from Columbia Business School with independent study with the Columbia University Theater
Department
General Manager
Richard Martini
Producer or General Manager of more than 100 shows in the last 35 years. Tours, Broadway and Off-Broadway productions include: A CHORUS
LINE, PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, PETER PAN, FAME, THE GREAT RADIO CITY SPECTACULAR, ALL SHOOK UP, Steve Martin’s PICASSO
AT THE LAPIN AGILE, SOME LIKE IT HOT, CAMELOT starring Richard Harris, SOUTH PACIFIC starring Robert Goulet, ANYTHING GOES
starring Mitzi Gaynor, THE FANTASTICKS starring Robert Goulet, BROADWAY ON ICE starring Dorothy Hamill and Scott Hamilton, XANADU
and A BRONX TALE starring Chazz Palminteri.
Writers
Jonathan Tolins and Robert Cary
Credits include FLASHDANCE for stage, THE THOMAS CROWN AFFIAR for stage, TWILIGHT OF THE GOLDS, PALM BEACH
Producer Theatrical Lawyer
Frederick P. Bimbler
Partner with Cowan, DeBaets, Abrahams & Sheppard. Represented producer or production: Looped; A Tale of Two Cities; Xanadu; Hot Feet; Lt.
of Inishmore; The Drowsy Chaperone; Sarah Jones Bridge & Tunnel; Grey Gardens; Spring Awakening; Whoopi; Prymate; A Raisin in the Sun;
Our Town; Urban Cowboy: The Musical; I'm Not Rappaport; Dame Edna: The Royal Tour and Flashdance The Musical.
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Sharp Dressed Man
The ZZ Top Musical
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Short Synopsis and Setting
Texas in the 80s: The oil boom has just gone bust, and times couldn’t be tougher for the
poor people of Sherwood County. Oil baron "Big" Richard King, has gone missing in
Alaska. His villainous son, "Little" Richard, has a scheme to steer the local economy off a
cliff so that he can buy every acre in the county at a fire sale price. He knows that all those
acres will be worth a mint once the economy comes back. Luckily, Rob Tyler and his band
of merry mechanics are taking from the rich to give to the poor to help them survive Little
Richard’s schemes. The difference is Rob is doing it with car parts – stealing from the local
gentry so that the down-trodden masses can stay in their pickups long enough to outlast
Little Richard's siege. But when Big Richard's "long-lost second cousin, twice removed,"
the gorgeous Mary Ann, walks into Rob's auto shop, Rob must choose between the love of
his life and his destiny as the folk hero and common-man savior of Sherwood County.
SHARP-DRESSED MAN takes 20 of ZZ Top's biggest hits and sends the audience on a
swashbuckling, romantic ride where the stakes are as high as the ladies' hairstyles,
following Rob's transformation from grease monkey to the “Sharp Dressed Man” as he
fights for life, liberty, and the pursuit of a passion as big as the great state of Texas.
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Songs included - All Greatest Hits
All Music Rights have been cleared
Cheap Sunglasses
La Grange
Sharp Dressed Man
Legs
Tube Snake Boogie
Gimme All Your Lovin'
Got Me Under Pressure
Heard it on the X
I’m Bad, I’m Nationwide
Doubleback
Jesus Just Left Chicago
Just Got Paid
My Head’s in Mississippi
Pearl Necklace
Rough Boy
Sleeping Bag
Stages
Tush
Waitin’ for the Bus
Beer Drinkers and Hell Raisers
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Treatment
ACT ONE
In the darkened theater, we hear the first hot riffs of "Heard It on the X" as a giant projection screen is filled with images of the Lone Star State in the 1980's. We see the big hair, the
big houses, and THE big business – oil. Lights up on our narrator, AL DALE, walking along the open road at night. Al tells us that, smack dab in the middle of the 80's, the oil
business has gone bust. Now the good people of Sherwood County, Texas are scrambling to hold on to their jobs, their houses, and life as they know it ("Just Got Paid").
It seems local oil baron "BIG" RICHARD KING has gone missing in Alaska, leaving his villainous son "LITTLE" RICHARD to run the company. Little Richard has a scheme to steer
the local economy off a cliff so that he can buy every acre in the county at a fire sale price, knowing that all those acres will be worth a mint once the economy comes back. Al's just
finished giving us the low-down when he gets harassed by GUY, the local sheriff, who's very much in the pocket of Little Richard and his henchmen. But before Al gets carted off for
no good reason, a trio of homegrown vigilantes show up on their motorcycles and save Al from false arrest – stripping Sheriff Guy down to his skivvies in the process. These "Beer
Drinkers and Hell Raisers" are the innocent county folks' last hope: family man WILL CARTER, 25 year-old virgin JOHNNY, and our hero, ROB TYLER – a modern-day Robin Hood.
Rob and his buddies go to the local honky-tonk to brag about their exploits, but the sheriff isn't far behind. Luckily, a newcomer to town recognizes the lawman as a regular at the
local brothel ("La Grange"), sending Sheriff Guy out the door with a vow to return and track down the bandits who embarrassed him back on the highway. Rob, Will and Johnny
befriend this newcomer – a drunken former priest by the name of TUCK FRYER – and Rob offers to fix Tuck's truck the next day for free.
When Tuck comes to Rob's auto body the following morning, he finds Rob and the guys shaking off their hangovers ("Cheap Sunglasses"), when they explain their racket: They take
parts from the cars of the still-rich oil folks to repair the pickups of the downtrodden working folks. People who – without their trucks – would be left "Waiting for the Bus." Tuck offers
to help them redistribute the wealth, and Rob renews his vow to devote all his energy to helping the county folk survive the siege of the King family. The only distraction? The dropdead gorgeous MARY ANN, who walks into the shop with her mile-long "Legs." Mary Ann is accompanied by her "nanny," a sexually adventurous 50 year-old named BETTY. Mary
Ann is spectacular, rich, and even loves old cars (Rob's passion). But Rob feels certain a woman like that is more than he could ever hope for.
No sooner has Mary Ann left the shop than Rob gets wind of a family meeting at the King Mansion. Disguised as a cater waiter, he crashes the meeting and overhears Little
Richard, Sheriff Guy and the King family making plans to drive the locals into foreclosure ("I'm Bad, I'm Nationwide"). But the real surprise is when Mary Ann walks in after the
meeting and talks with Little Richard. Even though she's telling everyone she's a "long-lost second cousin twice removed," she's actually Little Richard's estranged daughter, come
home to claim her birthright after years living in another city with her now-deceased mom (and, of course, Nanny Betty). An unseen Rob overhears this conversation, stunned that
the most attractive woman he's ever seen also happens to be the daughter of his arch-enemy.
But this only deepens his resolve to fight back against the King family's corruption, and soon the Bandit of Sherwood County has reached legendary status, much to Little Richard's
chagrin. Still, all their exploits haven't helped young Johnny overcome his sexual anxieties ("Tush"), nor have they helped Rob admit how badly he wishes Mary Ann would return his
affections ("Got Me Under Pressure"). However, when the King family announces plans to throw a county fair complete with shooting contest – with a kiss from Mary Ann as the First
Prize – Rob can't resist the bait. And just to make sure he's suitably impressive to her, he takes the blue satin tux from his high school prom and reinvents himself as a hip, slick and
sexy "Sharp Dressed Man."
At the fair, this disguised version of Rob approaches Mary Ann and soon fireworks are exploding between them ("Gimme All Your Lovin'"). Rob makes a spectacular win in the
shooting contest, but when he goes for the promised kiss, his fake mustache comes off and his disguise is ruined. Realizing that this sharp-dressed man is actually the Bandit of
Sherwood County, Sheriff Guy orders his arrest -- but Rob and his men make a quick (and well-planned) escape, kidnapping a furious Mary Ann as they make their getaway.
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Treatment (cont)
ACT TWO
Al Dale warms up the audience with "Tube Snake Boogie" and then takes us to the caves of the Sonoran Desert, where our heroes are hiding out as they await
ransom money from Little Richard. Mary Ann (correctly) accuses Rob of not thinking his plan through, but soon their verbal sparring gives way to a realization
they're falling in love ("Stages"). Meanwhile, despite Johnny's protestations that "My Head's in Mississippi," Betty makes the moves on him and coaxes him into
her "Sleeping Bag."
Rob decides the right thing to do is return Mary Ann to her father, even though she now wants to stay with him and fight for the oppressed locals. She ends up
going back to the King Mansion, but not until she and Rob have hatched a plan. The annual Barbeque Ball is coming up, and Will, Johnny and Tuck are going to
use their musical talents to get booked as the band for the event (courtesy the party planner, none other than Mary Ann herself). Things go exactly as planned: as
the trio entertains the bejeweled Texas matrons with the double-entendres of "Pearl Necklace," Rob sneaks into Little Richard's office and steals incriminating
papers linking Richard to a bank scandal. But as he makes his escape, Rob realizes that the life of a fugitive is no existence for a lady and leaves a brokenhearted Mary Ann behind.
Driving his motorcycle on the highway that night, Rob begins to have second thoughts about living without Mary Ann ("Doubleback") while she, back at the
mansion, decides to go out in search of him ("I Thank You"). Their intuition leads them both to Rob's auto repair shop, where they're soon found by a furious Little
Richard. Richard pulls a gun, but Rob has a gun, too, and the only thing that can keep matters from getting homicidal is the intervention of Tuck, who suddenly
reconnects to his long-lost talent as a preacher ("Jesus Just Left Chicago"). Tuck turns the confrontation into a full-on revival meeting, capped by the miraculous
return of "Big" Richard King, who quickly banishes his son and the sheriff to Alaska and appoints Rob to run his company (albeit in a much more egalitarian
manner). Betty and Johnny decide to make a go of it, Will renews his commitment to his marriage, and even Tuck finds love with Little Richard's soon-to-be exwife, Ida Mae. As the full company reprises "Sharp Dressed Man," Al Dale returns to tell us that Rob and Mary Ann did indeed live happily ever after, running the
company, restoring cars, and sharing a love as big as all of Texas.
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About ZZ Top
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About ZZ Top
Formed in 1969 in Houston, Texas, ZZ Top (Billy Gibbons,
Dusty Hill and Frank Beard) is one of history’s greatest and
most influential rock bands.
ZZ Top holds the distinction of being among the few rock
bands still comprised of its original members after 40 years.
Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones inducted ZZ Top into the
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in March, 2004 and the band was
selected to VH1’s "100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock” in the
same month.
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Today, ZZ Top is more relevant than ever…
OCTOBER 2009
Prestigious national ad campaign for famed
couture designer John Varvatos
JUNE 2008
ZZ Top “Live in Texas” DVD released.
Debuted at #1 in the country. Stayed in top 5
selling DVD’s in the country for 18 weeks
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ZZ Top is more relevant than ever…
SEPTEMBER 2009
ZZ Top headlines F1 Rocks, Formula Race in
Singapore with Beyoncé, Black Eyed Peas, No Doubt
JANUARY & FEBRUARY 2008
High-profile performances at the
2008 Orange Bowl and 2008
Auto Club 500 NASCAR event
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ZZ Top is more relevant than ever…
MAY 2008
ZZ Top played “Sharp Dressed Man” with
David Cook, the winner of American Idol,
on the American Idol Finale
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ZZ Top is more relevant than ever…
SUMMER 2009
ZZ Top launches worldwide concert tour
with Aerosmith
JULY 2009
Diesel Fashion, Florence Italy.
Designer pays tribute to ZZ Top
with kids
AUGUST 2009
ZZ Top plays with guests Slash
and John Mayer at House of
Blues in Hollywood
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Today, ZZ Top is more relevant than ever…
MAY 2007
The band is honored by Billy Bob Thornton at VH1 Rock Honors &
performs with Nickelback
JULY 2008
ZZ Top signs with legendary record producer Rick Rubin to record a new
studio record
OCTOBER 2008
ZZ Top Headlining concert at Wembley Arena
NOVEMBER 2008
The Legendary Trio plays at Texas Motor Speedway during the Dickies 500
in conjunction with their 40th anniversary
JULY 2009
ZZ Top performs on VH1's “Storytellers” in celebration of their four decades
as recording artists
&
Billy Gibbons and Dusty Hill appeared on WWE Monday Night Raw as the
special guest hosts.
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