How Far Is It from CBGB's to Broadway?

Well, we don't know yet, but the Ramones might just find out. Now that three of the original Ramones have withdrawn from this mortal coil (when were they part of that collective?), the band is safely ensconced in the Rock'n'Roll Hall of Fame, and they provide the soundtrack to an unconscionable number of TV commercials, they've been deemed worthy of mainstream acceptance. So what's to follow except for a stage musical? Yes, after triumphs in both Perth and Berlin (what ever happened to tryouts in New Haven?) Gabba Gabba Hey!, the Ramones musical, opens in London at the end of next month. Impresario Michael Hermann, who wrote and is directing and producing, calls the show "a timely antidote to the recent spate of bloated, over-produced back catalogue shows that are about as rock 'n' roll as kitty litter!" He's got a point. Regardless of its other charms, musical theater is not exactly cutting edge rock'n'roll. So why should we expect this one will be? Is Gabba Gabba Hey! going to change the way we go to musicals? Is it going to break ground that musicals based on the music of Squeeze, the Who, Queen, Billy Joel, Abba, Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, Elvis, and Culture Club (OK, who am I forgetting?)could not? Will the cast get drunk and forget the words to the songs? Will the playlist change nightly? Will they drop in a few unexpected covers? A stage musical is a stage musical. Regardless of its qualities as a piece of theater, how is this going to change our expectations more than any other show?