Kristin Chenoweth
Murder, mayhem, madness — and music? Composer Andrew Lippa is a self-confessed “Tiger Cub,” a die-hard fan of the Neflix documentary Tiger King, having spent hours binge-watching the show during quarantine. On March 28, he tweeted, “I’m making the musical of ‘Tiger King.’ Don’t try to stop me. Don’t tell me you have the rights. You don’t. I will crush it.” He was only half-joking.
After his post got over 2,000 likes, Lippa continued the thread for more than another 100 tweets. But he didn’t think much of the conversation, until Kurt Deutsch of Ghostlight Records asked him, “Are you serious? Do you really want to make a musical?” So, now he’s writing a score for Tiger King: The Musical (A Parody!) and will post the latest songs as he writes them over the next few weeks. He’s begun assembling an impressive group of artists to help.
First on board was Kristin Chenoweth, who premiered leading lady Carole Baskin’s first act finale, “Little Pieces.” The next song to drop was “Husband Number 2,” featuring Frankie Grande as Joe Exotic’s partner Travis Maldonado. This week Richard Kind was added to the roster as Baskin’s husband Howard, whose song is yet to be announced.