American Psycho stage musical is still in the works

“I like to dissect girls. Did you know I’m utterly insane… for show tunes?”

For a couple of years now, we’ve been hearing about AMERICAN PSYCHO: THE MUSICAL, a Broadway production based on Bret Easton Ellis’ horrifying novel of gruesome homicides and 80s excess (and the film adaptation featuring Christian Bale’s unforgettable performance). But the tuneful carnage is on the way and getting closer to cracking you in the face with an ax.

The story follows well-dressed Wall Street banker, killer and amateur music critic Patrick Bateman as he carves a path of mayhem through prostitutes and interchangeable colleagues while providing commentary on the decade’s pop culture. Grammy and Tony winning songwriter Duncan Sheik is providing the music for this Broadway version, due in 2011.

The show will apparently have plenty of biting satire as well as grisly slaughter, as playwright Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa says: “There are murders, and they are on stage in full view of the audience. An ax and a chef’s knife will be used. I think there’s going to be a lot of blood.”

The stage production is expected to include memorable scenes like the tense business card comparison and the raincoat-clad eradication of Paul Owen/Allen.