ZZ Top Rock Musical ‘Sharp Dressed Man’ To Open In Las Vegas

In 2020, Caesars Entertainment is expected to unveil a new ZZ Top musical titled Sharp Dressed Man. The Las Vegas team of Michael Gruber and Jason Gastwirth has partnered with the band’s longtime manager, Carl Stubner, and producer Prem Akkaraju to develop the forthcoming rock production. ZZ Top’s own Billy Gibbons, Dusty Hill and Frank Beard will also serve as executive producers.

Per a press release, Sharp Dressed Man “is an outrageous, bawdy musical romp about a Lone Star auto mechanic who becomes a modern-day Robin Hood, stealing hearts — and car parts — with the help of his merry band of beer drinkers and hell raisers.” It also draws from across ZZ Top’s five-decade-long catalog, promising renditions of fan-favorite, highly popular numbers like “Legs,” “La Grange,” “Gimme All Your Lovin’” and “Cheap Sunglasses.”

The show’s book was written by Robert Cary and Jonathan Tolins, who worked together on teleplays for Grease Live! and A Christmas Story Live!. Individually, Tolins created the off-Broadway hit Buyer & Cellar, wrote films like The Twilight of the Golds and serves as co-executive producer of CBS All Access’ The Good Fight. Cary has co-authored numerous Broadway shows, including Summer: The Donna Summer Musical and Flashdance The Musical, and directed films Ira and Abby and Anything But Love.

Explained Gibbons in a statement, “We’re excited about this fantastic project and look forward to hearing our music in a new innovative context. … Fans have often told us that we’ve provided the soundtrack to their lives, and this is very much in line with that kind of enthusiastic thinking.”

Added Stubner, “I know firsthand that ZZ Top is an enduring phenomenon; they’re now about to celebrate 50 years of rocking audiences around the world. … The show that Prem, Michael, Jason and I envision will utilize the band’s music and tremendous energy for audiences in a new immersive realm. This, just like ZZ Top, is all about having a good time at a great party and telling fun stories through their music.”

The musical is set to launch in 2020 at Caesars in Las Vegas, following the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame act’s 50th-anniversary tour later in the year.