Adam Green Writing Musical About A Dog

11/11/08 4:05pm

by Kate Harper (CHARTattack)

Adam Green is making a musical about a homeless dog. There's no way it'll match the Shiba Inu Puppy Cam we're currently obsessed with, but we'll give Green a chance.

The Broadway musical is apparently based on Timbuktu, a Paul Auster novella told by a dog that lives on the streets of Baltimore with his homeless and dying owner.

Green says the musical is influenced by West Side Story and late Belgian singer/songwriter Jacques Brel, but will be rock-based and won't cater to the Broadway sound.

We'd make fun of this, but we know dogs have held some serious roles in the past. Here are some fictional dogs from well-known pieces of art:

Argos: In Greek mythology, Argos was Odysseus' dog. He's featured prominently in Homer's Odyssey.

Brian: The talking dog on Family Guy is under-appreciated and is just as funny as Stewie.

Buck: This mutt (his mother was a Scottish Shepherd and his father was a St. Bernard) was the main character in Jack London's The Call Of The Wild. He was based on a real dog named Jack, who rescued a sled that was freezing in ice.

Cujo: This one isn't so nice. This rabid St. Bernard is the problem in the Stephen King novel of the same name.

Lady And The Tramp: Probably the only couple of animated dogs you ever saw, unless you're into really weird porn.

Lassie: How can anyone forget the world's most famous Border Collie?

Santa's Little Helper: Untrained Greyhounds who eat paper and poop all over the place don't get much better than this Simpsons mainstay.

Scooby-Doo: Mysteries were so much more interesting with him around.

Toto: Dorothy's dog didn't have a huge role in The Wizard Of Oz, but the novel and film probably wouldn't have been the same without him.

Old Yeller: You've probably started crying just by reading the name.

There have also been some classic songs written about dogs:

The Beatles' "Martha My Dear" is actually about Paul McCartney's sheepdog.

Given Justin Hawkins' pastime, you'd think The Darkness' "Black Shuck" was about heroin. It's actually about a ghost dog which is said to roam the eastern English coast.

Crazy Chester's dog gets a shout-out in The Band's "The Weight."

The Real McKenzies take a break from drinking songs on "The Ballad Of Greyfriars Bobby" on their recently released Off The Leash.

There's even Harry Nilsson's "The Puppy Song," and let's not forget childhood favourites like "How Much Is That Doggy In The Window?" and "Where, O Where Has My Little Dog Gone?"

Perhaps the songs in Green's musical will become as well-known as these... or at least a lot funnier.