I remember that 1996 project "The Heads". Ya know... if David Byrne doesn't want to do Talking Heads as "some sort of exercise in nostalgia" then at least let the rest of them reunite and let the fans hear these songs again!

I'm not even 40 myself. Do you think I had a chance to really experience the first time around?

I felt the same fucking way about Prince not reuniting with The Revolution.

Cinny said:

I remember that 1996 project "The Heads". Ya know... if David Byrne doesn't want to do Talking Heads as "some sort of exercise in nostalgia" then at least let the rest of them reunite and let the fans hear these songs again!

But David Byrne performed a Talking Heads song on Jimmy Fallon's show last month. Their songs are part of a Broadway play going by the interview on the episode. As far as the group goes, just go out as Tom Tom Club and do the songs.

This would be awesome.

MickyDolenz said:

Cinny said:

I remember that 1996 project "The Heads". Ya know... if David Byrne doesn't want to do Talking Heads as "some sort of exercise in nostalgia" then at least let the rest of them reunite and let the fans hear these songs again!

But David Byrne performed a Talking Heads song on Jimmy Fallon's show last month. Their songs are part of a Broadway play going by the interview on the episode. As far as the group goes, just go out as Tom Tom Club and do the songs.

Best idea so far.

Spike Lee To Direct Film Version Of ‘David Byrne’s American Utopia’ Stage Show

by Mike Fleming Jr January 31, 2020 Deadline

EXCLUSIVE: Oscar winner Spike Lee has signed on to direct a filmed version of the acclaimed Broadway show David Byrne’s American Utopia. Participant adds another title to its portfolio of films meant to engage positive social change, as it will be lead financier and executive producer for the project. It is financing the film with River Road Entertainment and Warner Music Group.

The film will be produced by RadicalMedia, as well as Byrne’s Todomundo and Lee’s Forty Acres and a Mule Filmworks production companies. Byrne, Lee and Participant’s Jeff Skoll, David Linde and Diane Weyermann will share executive producer credit; along with Warner Music Group’s David Bither, Charlie Cohen, and Kurt Deutsch; Bill Pohlad of River Road; and RadicalMedia’s Jon Kamen, Dave Sirulnick and Meredith Bennett. Kristin Caskey, Mike Isaacson and Patrick Catullo, who lead produced the Broadway production, will also serve as executive producers.

David Byrne’s American Utopia opened October 2019 and runs through February 16 at the Hudson Theatre, where it has played to sold-out, record-breaking houses. Weyermann will oversee the production for Participant. The film is planned for a 2020 release.

Said Byrne: “Pinch me. This couldn’t have worked out better for this project. Spike Lee directing and Participant producing — two socially engaged teams, well, three if you count us in the band, coming together in what I feel will be something moving, important, and unlike anything anyone has seen before.”

Said Participant CEO Linde: “American Utopia is a true celebration from a great artist and a beautiful reminder to our nation that we are all born barefoot and wearing the same suit. We are incredibly excited to work with Mr. Byrne and the incomparable Spike Lee, along with RadicalMedia, River Road and Warner Music Group in bringing this one-of-a-kind event out of the theater to audiences around the world.”

Said RadicalMedia CEO Kamen: “Stop Making Sense is one of the greatest music performance films ever. To have the opportunity to revisit the genius of David Byrne with American Utopia and produce a bookend film with Spike Lee and Ellen Kuras is a dream.”

Byrne, himself an Oscar-, Grammy- and Golden Globe-winning musician, teamed with 11 musical artists from around the world performing songs from Byrne’s 2018 album of the same name, along with songs from Talking Heads and his solo career for a major cultural milestone in the worlds of music and theater. The show drew raves, with choreography by Annie-B Parson and production consultant Alex Timbers singled out for high praise. They teamed with Byrne previously on the Imelda Marcos musical Here Lies Love. American Utopia has lighting design by Rob Sinclair and sound design by Pete Keppler. Karl Mansfield and Mauro Refosco are musical directors.

David Byrne’s American Utopia will be an integral part of Participant’s 2020 social impact work, including efforts dedicated to civic engagement and democracy, both major themes in the production.

The original American Utopia album was released by Warner Music Group’s Nonesuch Records in 2018. The record received a Grammy nomination and was the first by Byrne to reach No. 1 on the Album Chart; it was also his first to reach the top five on the Billboard 200 chart. The concert tour included more than 150 dates in 27 countries over nine months. Nonesuch also released the cast album for the Broadway production and has released eight other Byrne records since 2003, including two versions of his musical Here Lies Love. Byrne is also signed to WMG’s music publishing arm, Warner Chappell Music, which administers his global catalog, including American Utopia.

Lee is currently in post-production on Da 5 Bloods, starring Chadwick Boseman and Paul Walter Hauser. Most recently, Lee’s BlacKkKlansman earned six Academy Award nominations including Best Picture, and won for Best Adapted Screenplay. Lee is represented by ICM Partners and attorney Robert Strent at Grubman Shire Meiselas & Sacks.

The agreement was negotiated by Jeannine Tang, General Counsel, and Stefanie Holmes, VP of Business & Legal Affairs for Participant, Lawrence Shire and Gil Karson of Grubman Shire Meiselas & Sacks on behalf of Byrne, Christa Zofcin Workman, COO for River Road, and ICM Partners.

David Byrne's 'American Utopia' Sets Return Broadway Engagement

2/16/2020 by David Rooney The Hollywood Reporter

The former Talking Heads frontman's critically lauded theatrical concert, which will be released as a feature film directed by Spike Lee, is coming back to New York's Hudson Theatre in the fall.

The same day one of the major hits of fall 2019 concludes its phenomenally successful 20-week extended Broadway run, a return engagement has been announced for next fall.

David Byrne's American Utopia — a dazzling, one-of-a-kind theatrical concert that combines songs from his Talking Heads art-rock heyday with selections from across his eclectic solo output, all of it woven into a joyous call to arms to rewire our brains and connect both with our fellow humans and our ailing planet — will be back at New York's Hudson Theatre in September.

The critically acclaimed show will play a 17-week return engagement, beginning performances Sept. 18 and scheduled through Jan. 17, 2021, with an official reopening date to be set. Tickets are now on sale at thehudsonbroadway.com.

A filmed version of American Utopia, directed by Spike Lee, has been shot, with a release date to be announced for later this year. Meanwhile, Byrne and the culturally diverse company of 11 hard-working musicians, backup singers and dancers will appear Feb. 29 as musical guests on Saturday Night Live.

"It's become obvious to us in the band, the crew and the producer team that audiences want — dare I say need? — to see this show," Byrne said Sunday in a statement. "They're not ready to have it disappear just yet. We feel the same way, we love doing this show. So it's thrilling to us that we can announce that we'll be back in September."

Following the massive success in the 2017-18 season of Springsteen on Broadway, which played through multiple extensions to sold-out houses for more than a year and spawned a Netflix concert film, the potential for smartly packaged music concerts on intimate Broadway stages seems limitless.

While box office for the final week of American Utopia's initial run will not be released until Monday, the production looks to close out that engagement with combined grosses north of $20 million. The show has been playing to capacity crowds since opening, more than once setting new house records at the Hudson and recouping its initial $4 million investment in mid-December, just 10 weeks into the run.

Theater pundits already are predicting that Byrne, like Springsteen two years ago, seems a good bet to receive a special Tony Award for the show in June. Tony-nominated director Alex Timbers serves as production consultant on American Utopia, which features choreography and musical staging by Annie-B Parson.

The film version is produced by RadicalMedia, Byrne's Todomundo and Lee's Forty Acres and a Mule Filmworks. Byrne and Lee are producers, while Participant's Jeff Skoll, David Linde and Diane Weyermann serve as executive producers, along with Warner Music Group's David Bither, Charlie Cohen and Kurt Deutsch; Bill Poland of River Road Entertainment; and RadicalMedia's Jon Kamen, Dave Sirulnick and Meredith Bennett. Lead Broadway producers Kristin Caskey, Mike Isaacson and Patrick Catullo also will double as executive producers on the film.

"It has been a joy to bring American Utopia to Broadway," said the producers in a statement. "David Byrne is one of our greatest living artists and it's cause for celebration that he has made his Broadway debut with this brilliant production. We have been blown away by the range of audiences of all ages and backgrounds."

Next up at the Hudson is Matthew Broderick and Sarah Jessica Parker, together for the first time on Broadway, in a revival of the Neil Simon comedy Plaza Suite, directed by John Lee Beatty. Following a Boston tryout, that production begins previews March 13 ahead of an April 13 opening and is scheduled to play a limited engagement through July 12.

David Byrne, far right, and company in American Utopia