Prior to the release of the 1972 Jamaican cult classic The Harder They Come, few in the United States and even around the world had heard of reggae. But Jimmy Cliff‘s iconic soundtrack to the low-budget crime drama turned-midnight movie staple changed that, paving the way for acts like Bob Marley and Peter Tosh in the States.
As the film approaches its 50th anniversary, a new musical adaptation is in the works. Set to open at New York’s Public Theater in February, the production has the blessing and cooperation of Justine Henzell, daughter of the film’s director Perry Henzell and a filmmaker in her own right. The stage adaptation is co-directed by Sergio Trujillo, who scored a Tony for his choreography in the Temptations musical Ain’t Too Proud, and Tony Taccone.
The script was written by Suzan-Lori Park, a Pulitzer-winning playwright whose credits include Unchain My Heart: The Ray Charles Musical and the screenplay for last year’s The United States vs. Billie Holiday. Cast in the starring role of musician-turned-anti-hero Ivan is Natey Jones, who played Peter Tosh in the Bob Marley jukebox musical Get Up, Stand Up.
At the core of the production is Cliff’s iconic score. The new production will keep classics like “Sitting in Limbo”, “You Can Get It If You Really Want”, and “The Harder They Come” and include later Cliff songs like “Wonderful World, Beautiful People” and “Better Days Are Coming”. The musical will also feature Johnny Nash‘s 1972 hit “I Can See Clearly Now” and the gospel song “Just a Closer Walk with Thee”.
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Just like the film, the Harder They Come musical will tell the story of Ivan, a down-and-out musician plagued by poverty who is thrown from one dead end to the next in Jamaica. He moves to the city with big dreams of being a musician, but is taken advantage of by a shifty music producer and is improperly compensated for his art—a theme the producers know still resonates today.
“When Taylor Swift is put in an unfair situation with her music, you think, ‘What the f—k?’” Parks told Rolling Stone. “Before, you still thought, ‘What the f—k?’ But now you think it isn’t just Black artists. That kind of treatment—the difficulties Prince or Taylor had—happen over and over again to artists of all races and levels of fame.”
After taking to a career smuggling marijuana as a means of survival, Ivan is betrayed by a corrupt police department. He finds himself on the run as an outlaw, at which time his music surges in popularity and he becomes a folk hero. While the story ends tragically for Ivan, the musical’s producers plan to show how powerful the story’s message remains today.
“The story of having a dream and going after that dream despite all odds is a universal one,” Henzell said. “Even though Ivan does bad things, you have sympathy for the motivation behind it. You’re rooting for him to get his due… To a certain degree he achieves his ambitions—everyone knows about him—but he went about it in a way that was not right. There were consequences. So it’s also a cautionary tale.”
While the producers plan to stick to the original story, they also aim to amplify many of the societal statements touched on by the 1972 film with added dialogue.
“We’re allowing him to give more voice to how the poor are treated differently from the rich,” Parks said. “Even with all the advances we’ve made in world culture, there are still so many limitations being put on people. Less advantaged people are told to behave and do things by the book, and when they don’t, the hammer comes down hard. The rich man can be bad and do whatever he pleases, and doesn’t seem like he has to pay for it.”
The Harder They Come opens at New York’s Public Theater on February 16th. For tickets and a full list of showings head here.
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