Fran Drescher Says ‘The Nanny’ Musical Is ‘Moving Forward at a Really Good Pace’ with Rachel Bloom
Drescher revealed in early 2020 that a musical based on the 1993 television series of the same title would be heading to Broadway
Fran Drescher is gearing up for The Nanny to make its Broadway debut.
While celebrating the launch of her new N is for Nanny book, Drescher, 64, opened up to PEOPLE about her new musical and where they’re at in the development process.
“The Nanny the musical is moving forward at a really good pace,” she says. “Rachel Bloom is doing the lyrics. Peter [Marc Jacobson] and I are doing the book. We’re having our first official read at the end of July.”
“I can’t imagine it opening before at least two years, but it’s very exciting,” she adds.
The Nanny musical is inspired by the 1993 series of the same name, which was created by Drescher and ran for six seasons on CBS. The stage production will follow a girl from Flushing, Queens, who becomes the nanny to a Broadway producer’s three children.
In January 2020, Drescher confirmed to PEOPLE that a Broadway production was in the works with the help of Jacobson, her creative partner and ex-husband.
Marc Bruni, who produced Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, would be directing the musical, while Adam Schlesinger — who tragically died of COVID complications later that year — was set to write the music beside Bloom, the creator of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend.
“Nobody is cast yet — we’re plotting — but we feel confident we will find a fabulous actress who is funny, charming and has a great voice,” Drescher said at the time. “Of course I would do it myself. But we’d have to change the title to The Granny.”
Speaking to PEOPLE at her book event, Drescher notes that having Bloom on the project has been a refreshing experience.
“We were thrilled that Rachel wanted to do it because she grew up watching the show,” she explains. “She gets the humor. She’s really smart, she’s Jewish, and she’s the right age to bring in a kinda contemporary edge to it, and now she’s sharing the series on HBO Max with her daughter.”Besides her Broadway musical, Drescher has also been focused on the launch of new illustration book.
The actress worked alongside Australian author Rebecca Kelly for N is for Nanny, which was inspired by the fashion and comedy of the television series. As a special touch, all proceeds from Drescher’s book will go to directly to her Cancer Schmancer organization, which advocates for women’s cancer healthcare.
“I never thought that Sony would go for it. Rebecca Kelly is so committed to Cancer Schmancer and such a big fan of the show that she wasn’t gonna take no for an answer,” Drescher shares. “Sony was extremely accommodating. They were more than happy to allow us to use the show to support Cancer Schmancer.”
The new book is also perfect for fans of The Nanny, who are hoping to add to their collection of memorabilia, according to Drescher
“It’s a perfect combination of my two passions, and I feel very blessed that it all worked out,” she says. “It came out so beautiful, and I hope everybody buys it.”
