Movie Musical ‘Lucky Stiff’ to be Released by Abramorama and The Orchard

Distributors Abramorama and The Orchard have teamed up to release “Lucky Stiff,” a movie musical starring a slew of Broadway talent, this summer.

Broadway regular Christopher Ashley (“Memphis,” “Xanadu”) directs the screen adaptation of the first musical by Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty (“Ragtime,” “Rocky,” “Once On This Island”). Tony winners Jason Alexander — soon to return to Broadway in “Fish in the Dark” — and Nikki M. James (“The Book of Mormon”) star alongside Cheyenne Jackson, Jayne Houdyshell, Kate Shindle, Dennis Farina, Pamela Shaw and Dominic Marsh.

The musical comedy centers on a young British man (Marsh) who takes his dead uncle to Monte Carlo in a madcap attempt to fulfill the requirements of a will that would bequeath him $6 million. Victor Symris (“Psycho Beach Party”) and J. Todd Harris (“The Kids are All Right,” as well as stage projects “Doctor Zhivago” and “Heathers the Musical”) produce.

“Lucky Stiff” will be released theatrically in New York July 24, with the Orchard releasing the film on the same day on VOD in the U.S. and Canada.

Alternative film distributor Abramorama has worked on movies including “Exit Through the Gift Shop” and Cameron Crowe documentary “Pearl Jam Twenty.” The Orchard, meanwhile, has begun to turn heads in the movie industry with a slate of titles that includes current Tribeca Film Festival offering “The Overnight” and “What We Do in the Shadows.”

The distribution deal for “Lucky Stiff” was pacted by Craig Sussman of the Orchard with Arclight Films’ Clay Epstein.

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