Fallon Files: Jimmy Is Going to Broadway!

Welcome to Fallon Files, a weekly-ish series chronicling only the lowest lows of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.

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Astonishingly, Jimmy Fallon already has four Emmys (two for hosting SNL and two for “Outstanding Creative Achievement in Interactive Media” on his late-night shows) and a Grammy for Best Comedy Album. What’s next? A Tony? That’s a bit of a stretch, and yet not entirely outside the realm of possibility, because Jimbo is going to be on Broadway in the near future.

Last night on the Tonight Show, filmmaker Cameron Crowe joined Jimmy to talk about the musical adaptation of Almost Famous, which will have its official premiere this Thursday on Broadway. If you’ll recall, Jimmy has a supporting role in the film as Dennis Hope, the manager who takes the band Stillwater to new heights. After some light chatting about jamming with the Allman Brothers and Jimmy’s ideas for what the movie should have been called (Vinyl Reality), Crowe got down to business.

“My dream has always been to have you come and be the link between the two casts,” the Aloha director said. “So I would like you to come on the Broadway stage and play your part again.”

“Really? I’m in,” Jimmy said, doing some of his best acting work to date by feigning surprise. You almost wouldn’t know that this has been in the works for years now, as Crowe first mentioned it in a 2019 appearance on The Tonight Show.

According to Deadline, there is no set schedule as to when Jimmy might “drop by the musical.” So you could spend hundreds of dollars taking your family to see the musical adaptation of your favorite movie, and then, instead of seeing a professionally trained Broadway actor in a role, you would get Jimmy. (Here’s a tip: If you ever arrive at a Broadway show and the person you want to see isn’t in their role that day, you can go to the box office and exchange your tickets for a different day.)

I’m sure some people will be very excited to see Jimmy on Broadway, and good for them. But what about the rest of us? This man made his bones by being unable to take live performance seriously, and now you’re letting him get up on the most live stage possible? And he’s presumably going to be singing? Jimmy has a fine voice for a comedian, but putting him in a cast full of people who get paid to belt isn’t fair to anyone involved, us included.

All that being said, I would love to see it. I refuse to shell out any of my own money for this, but if anyone from the Almost Famous press team is reading, I would be very grateful for a press ticket. I promise to write about your show, most of which will probably seem like Sunday in the Park with George in comparison to whatever Jimmy brings to the stage.