THUNDER is a musical based on a concept by Tony Award-winner Thomas Meehan, co-author of the Broadway hits Annie, The Producers and Hairspray, with music by Jeffrey Stock and lyrics by Ira Gasman (lyricist for Cy Coleman’s The Life).
The story retells Shakespeare’s Othello in 1930s Harlem. James “Thunder” Moore is a young boxer who has earned a shot at the heavyweight title. Dante Morelli is a nightclub owner who also owns Thunder’s boxing contract. When Thunder secretly marries Morelli’s daughter Mona, danger is in the air.
Thunder’s childhood friend, Chicago Jones, is a struggling song and dance man who bitterly envies Thunder’s rise to prominence. Despite the boxer’s awesome strength and prowess, his one weakness is only too apparent to his old friend. Chicago sets in motion deadly mischief that brings the story to a tragic climax.