The Seckerson Tapes: American Psycho

Director Rupert Goold and composer Duncan Sheik on adapting Bret Easton Ellis's violent Eighties satire for the Almeida

by Edward SeckersonSaturday, 23 November 2013

American Psycho: serial murder with songs

In the season of goodwill a new musical based on Bret Easton Ellis’ notorious novel American Psycho might earn itself the subtitle “NOT the Christmas Show” - but when the composer is Duncan Sheik, he of the sensational Spring Awakening, and the director Rupert Goold, fresh into his artistic stewardship of the Almeida Theatre, all bets are off.

There’s even a number entitled “Mistletoe Alert” - so the season of rampant consumerism might well prove just the time to launch one of the most anticipated musicals of this or any season.

In this audio podcast Sheik and Goold tell how the bloodiest show since Sweeney Todd has reached the stage and how for Matt Smith the leap from Doctor Who to Patrick Bateman - city slicker and seasoned psychopath - might not prove so dramatic after all. Bateman is surely one of the most alien and elusive creations in contemporary fiction. Book writer Robert Aguirre-Sacasa has embraced the Batemanisms - “It all comes down to this: I feel like shit but look great” - and Sheik will be referencing the Eighties soundtrack in Bateman’s head as a textural part of his eagerly awaited score. Patrick Bateman live on stage. Bring a raincoat.

American Psycho at the Almeida from 3 December

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Bateman is surely one of the most alien and elusive creations in contemporary fiction

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