NEED TO KNOW
- Fyre Fest The Musical is officially in development from a producing team that includes Taika Waititi and Rita Ora
- The new stage comedy will be directed by Bryan Buckley with music from Adele’s Oscar- and Grammy-winning collaborator Paul Epworth
- The infamous 2017 Fyre Festival left fans stranded in the Bahamas, and founder Billy McFarland later went to prison for fraud
It was the scandal that became a cultural punchline. And now, the infamous Fyre Festival is being reimagined for the stage.
Producers announced on Monday, Sept. 8 that development is currently underway on Fyre Fest The Musical, a new comedy about Billy McFarland’s disastrous 2017 luxury music event that stranded influencer attendees on a remote Bahamian island with little more than cheese sandwiches and FEMA tents.
The project will be directed by prolific filmmaker and Super Bowl commercial king Bryan Buckley, who also penned the musical’s book. Music comes from Academy Award, Golden Globe and seven-time Grammy Award winner Paul Epworth, the songwriter/producer behind Adele’s hits “Rolling in the Deep” and “Skyfall” (among others).
“I never saw myself doing a theatrical musical comedy. But then again, I never saw something completely mind-bendingly ridiculous and intriguing as what went down with Fyre Festival,” said Buckley in a statement. “A spectacular failed endeavor, that will haunt a generation forever.”
“I cannot wait to get this show out to the world,” he continued. “And yeah man, this time there will actually be music or your money back.”
Buckley is among the team of producers, too, alongside Rock of Ages producer Matthew Weaver, Hungry Man Productions and the husband-and-wife pair of Taika Waititi and Rita Ora.
“Working in the theater is always fun,” said Waititi, in a statement. “I mean I haven’t done it for 15 years because it was no longer fun, but I’ve been told it will be fun this time. And I believe them.”
“When Bryan Buckley told me he wanted to make a musical about the Fyre Festival, I said, ‘Who the hell is Bryan Buckley?’ I then remembered we’ve been friends and work mates for 15 years so it was kinda hard to say no,” he added, with his signature reverence. ” Honestly, I think the idea is exciting, weird, and potentially disastrous, which seems apt and is how I like to work. I can’t wait to get started and snatch me some of that sweet American theatre money.”
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No production dates for Fyre Fest The Musical were announced, nor was any casting. But set design will come from four-time Tony Award nominee David Korins (Hamilton).
The musical is described in a release as more than just a retelling of one man’s scheme gone wrong. “It’s not just a Greek-sized tragedy of one man’s con,” reads the official release. “It’s a satirical indictment of an entire generation. Fyre Fest The Musical. It’s about as wrong as a bad idea can go.”
That “bad idea” was the real Fyre Festival.
It was pitched as an ultra-exclusive music and lifestyle experience in the Bahamas, with glossy social media campaigns featuring models like Kendall Jenner and Bella Hadid. But festivalgoers, who paid thousands of dollars for luxury villas and gourmet meals, arrived to find the site incomplete and in chaos — mattresses in disaster tents, luggage tossed from trucks and no major acts willing to perform.
Images from the festival quickly went viral, cementing Fyre as the poster child for influencer excess and internet schadenfreude.
The fallout was swift. McFarland, who co-founded the event with rapper Ja Rule, was promptly sued by investors and attendees in a $100 million class-action lawsuit. In 2018, he pleaded guilty to two counts of wire fraud — one involving defrauding Fyre investors and another related to a ticket-vendor scam.
He was sentenced to six years in federal prison and ordered to forfeit approximately $26 million.
While out on bail before his sentence, McFarland was additionally implicated in a fraudulent ticket scheme known as NYC VIP Access. Upon his release in early 2022, he began pitching new ventures, including a tech initiative called “PYRT.”
In 2023, McFarland made headlines again when he announced “Fyre Festival II,” claiming he had learned from the past and would deliver a successful event. Tickets were put on sale without a date, lineup or location. Within months, the festival was canceled before any details materialized.
That mix of hubris, hype and failure now serves as inspiration for the stage. And the team behind the production is leaning into the spectacle.
To mark the announcement, Hungry Man Productions plans to release a 100-foot barge from Staten Island into New York Harbor, anchoring it in Brooklyn for a launch event. Additional guerrilla art installations will pop up around the city throughout the week.
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