‘South Park’ Creators to Turn ‘12 Years a Slave’ into Broadway Musical
NEW YORK (TheSkunk.org) — South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, the phenomenally successful duo responsible for the Tony Award-winning hit “The Book of Mormon,” have announced their next Broadway musical will be “12 Years a Slave,” based on Solomon Northup’s harrowing 19th century account of his kidnapping and subsequent sale into slavery .
“We’ve always liked the concept of slavery as a comic theme,” stated Parker at a press event announcing the project. “The media has always focused on the serious, downer side of the subject, and that’s left a huge comedy void.”
“The slavery comedy void,” quipped Stone. “I don’t think anyone’s ever put those words put together before.”
“We’re not saying slavery wasn’t horrible – it was,” explained Parker, “but slavery has never been tackled in a musical comedy before, and we think enough time has passed where people can take a step back and laugh at that whole period in our history.”
According to Stone, lyrics have already been written for two original songs: “Whip, Crack, Ouch” and “Captivity Sucks.”
“We’re not trying to make a statement one way or another,” said Parker. “We just want to get a few laughs.”
“And whip up a good story,” added Stone.
