“Fire & Rain,” a new musical featuring the songs of Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter James Taylor, is newly in development. Tracy Letts will pen an original story for the musical, titled “Fire & Rain,” while David Cromer will serve as director. The musical takes its title from Taylor’s 1970 breakthrough single of the same name.
The musical is being produced by Gail Berman, Sam Feldman, Michael Gorfaine and Jimmy Nederlander, in association with Frank Marshall and Jere Harris. Bespoke Theatricals will provide general management.
In a career that spans more than five decades, Taylor has released 19 studio albums and collected six Grammy Awards, three of which were awarded for Best Pop Vocal Performance (for “You’ve Got a Friend,” “Handyman” and “Don’t Let Me Be Lonely Tonight”). Taylor has been inducted into both the Rock and Roll and Songwriters Halls of Fame. Additionally, Taylor is the recipient of the National Medal of the Arts, the Presidential Medal of Freedom and a Kennedy Center Honor.
Letts is the only individual to have won both the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and a Tony Award for performance. Letts won the former for 2007’s “August: Osage County” (as well as the 2008 Tony for Best Play) and the latter for his leading turn in the 2012 revival of “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” Letts most recently appeared on Broadway in his own drama “The Minutes,” earning an additional Best Play Tony nod.
Cromer won the 2018 Best Direction of a Musical Tony Award for helming “The Band’s Visit.” He received an additional nomination for directing 2019’s “The Sound Inside.” Cromer is represented on Broadway in the 2024-2025 season with “Good Night, and Good Luck” and the upcoming Main Stem transfer of “Dead Outlaw.”
