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Richard Simmons Known for revolutionizing the fitness world with “Sweatin’ to the Oldies.”
Before his death on July 13th — The day after celebrating his 76th birthday — The fitness guru is teaming up with longtime Madonna collaborator Patrick Leonard to score a musical about his legendary life.
“He sent me some lyrics and I wrote some melodies for them and that’s how the story began,” Leonard, 68, told The Washington Post. “Then he died… I sent him some stuff the day he died, but he never heard it.”
forward Simmons’s deathLeonard said, “I think there are eight pieces (completed)… These are things that are very personal, very autobiographical and very period-specific, you know, pieces that reflect certain periods in his life and career.
“There’s a section in there where he opens his first gym,” he continued. “So there’s a little storyline in there where he goes to someone else’s gym… and then decides to do his own thing, and then actually does it. So you incorporate that little story in there.”
While collaborating with Madonna on classic songs, “Live to Tell” “Beautiful Island” and “Like a prayer” — Her 1989 No. 1 single Starring in the blockbuster “Deadpool and Wolverine” — Leonard wrote the music first, and then the pop queen wrote the lyrics. But his collaboration with Simmons was quite different, and Simmons’ lyrics did not always appear in the traditional lyric form.
“Some of the lyrics are more lyrical than others,” Leonard explains. “When I first started doing them, I looked at them and thought, ‘You know, now let me shape them. I’m going to tidy them up. I’m going to make them more like lyrics.’
“But I decided not to do that,” he added. “So I just did it exactly as he wrote it, and interestingly enough, that made it even more dramatic.”
back Simmons’ passLeonard, who just released his solo album “It all depends on the mood” — It’s uncertain whether the musical will ever make it to the stage.
“To be honest with you, I don’t know what’s going on,” he said. “I feel bad for all the people who lost him so dramatically and so quickly… So there’s a lot of sadness right now. I think once this dies down, those people will come forward and say what they think should have happened, and then we’ll see… I’d like to see it continue.”
“But you know, part of it for me was talking to Richard. Because then I really had it… without him, you know, who was directing it? It was so easy to talk to him and get a feel for these pieces that we were writing. So if all of a sudden there was another lyricist, or I was writing lyrics, or a couple of us were writing lyrics, or whatever it was, it wasn’t his voice.”
Still, Leonard — who had never acted in a musical before this one — believes Simmons’ story has a powerful impact on the stage.
“It’s really beautiful because He is very keen to help others“He said. “It makes a lot of sense. I think if you tell that story right, you can move people — even inspire people.”
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