King Princess will play Lisa, the role made famous by Angelina Jolie, in a new Off-Broadway adaptation of Susanna Kaysen’s Girl, Interrupted.
King Princess is heading Off-Broadway.
The pop star is set to make her theatre debut in a new musical adaptation of Girl, Interrupted, taking on the role of Lisa — the volatile and magnetic character made iconic by Angelina Jolie in the 1999 film of the same name.
It’s a notable bit of casting: a contemporary queer artist stepping into one of pop culture’s most recognisable “messy girl” roles.
What we know about the Off-Broadway production
The new Girl, Interrupted musical will premiere at The Public Theater’s Martinson Hall in New York.
Previews begin on 13 May, with opening night set for 4 June. The production will run through 21 June.
The show is adapted by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Martyna Majok, with original music by Aimee Mann and direction by Jo Bonney.
Based on Susanna Kaysen’s memoir, the story follows her time in a psychiatric hospital and the relationships she forms with the other women on the ward.
Winona Ryder and Angelina Jolie in Girl, Interrupted (1999), a dynamic that’s long carried a quiet queer reading. Image: Columbia PicturesWho is King Princess playing in Girl, Interrupted?
King Princess will play Lisa — sharp-tongued, unpredictable, and impossible to ignore.
It’s a role that comes with a lot of cultural weight. Angelina Jolie’s performance earned her an Academy Award, and over time Lisa has become one of those characters that people return to again and again.
There’s also something in the overlap. King Princess’ music has long explored emotional intensity, identity and self-destruction in a way that makes Lisa feel like an interesting fit.
The legacy of Lisa and the 1999 film adaptation
Published in 1993, Girl, Interrupted became a defining cultural reference point after its 1999 film adaptation starring Winona Ryder and Angelina Jolie.
Since then, it’s been continuously reinterpreted — particularly online — where its aesthetic and themes have taken on a life of their own.
For a lot of people, Lisa sits at the centre of that. She’s charismatic and destructive in equal measure, and the film never quite resolves that tension.
Full cast announced for Girl, Interrupted musical
King Princess joins a cast led by Juliana Canfield as Susanna.
The production will also feature Emily Skinner as Dr Wick, Ta’Rea Campbell as Valerie, Gabi Campo as Tori, Manoel Felciano as Man, Mia Pak as Grace, Katherine Reis as Daisy, Sally Shaw as Polly and Lauren Jeanne Thomas as Judy.
When and where to see Girl, Interrupted Off-Broadway
The show will run at The Public Theater in New York from 13 May to 21 June, with opening night on 4 June.
Juliana Canfield will star as Susanna in the Off-Broadway musical adaptation of Girl, Interrupted. Images: Wikimedia CommonsWhy King Princess’ casting matters for queer audiences
Girl, Interrupted has always had a strong afterlife, particularly among audiences who see something of themselves in its relationships and characters, even when the story itself resists easy identification.
There’s also a quieter undercurrent to the story that’s been picked up on over time — particularly in the dynamic between Lisa and Susanna. The intensity of their relationship, the push and pull and the fixation has long been read through a queer lens, even if the film never names it outright.
Casting King Princess doesn’t rewrite that, but it does bring it a little closer to the surface.
It places a queer artist inside a story that has often been watched, quoted and reinterpreted from the outside — and lets that tension sit a bit more openly within the work itself.
For the latest LGBTIQA+ Sister Girl and Brother Boy news, entertainment, community stories in Australia, visit qnews.com.au. Find us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
