Yes, there are interpolations or snippets of more than a dozen existing songs, including Led Zeppelin’s “Ramble On” and “Over the Hills and Far Away,” Cat Stevens’ “The Wind,” Joni Mitchell’s “River” (the singer herself was in attendance on opening night) and, of course, Elton John’s “Tiny Dancer.” But the majority of the music consists of more than 20 original numbers - co-written by Crowe with Tony- and Pulitzer-winning composer/arranger Tom Kitt - peppered throughout the show’s two hours and 45 minutes. From his earliest magazine work in the 1970s to the era-defining script for “Fast Times at Ridgemont High” to documentaries on Pearl Jam and David Crosby and, yes, his 2000 film “ Almost Famous,” Crowe has done a better job of articulating the sensation of sound, lyric and melody than most of his successors in rock criticism - defying the old adage, “writing about music is like dancing about architecture.”īut Broadway is new terrain for Crowe, and while plenty of pop culture’s greatest hits have been turned into jukebox musicals, “Almost Famous” - which opened Friday at the Old Globe Theater in San Diego, following two weeks of previews - is not one of them. But Cameron Crowe, as we’ve come to know, is nothing if not courageous.

How do you create original music for a stage show about the love of music? It’s a tall order for even the most seasoned theater producer, never mind a first-timer.

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