Sorkin Won't Let Those Robots Eat You

Many a Broadway work has previewed in Boston before heading to the Great White Way -- and we strongly suggest that the musical announced this week follow suit.

A Flaming Lips concert is in many respects a musical theatre event in and of itself. But there is buzz that the band will officially launch a Broadway venture with the help of a collaboration so bizarre that it just might be awesome: Aaron Sorkin.

The fast-talking "The West Wing" scribe has signed on to write the book for a theatrical adaptation of the Lips' 2002 album Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, according to a report from Entertainment Weekly. Sorkin will team up with the Lips and Tony Award-winning director Des McAnuff.

We're really hoping that Bradley Whitford, Sorkin staple in "The West Wing" and "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip," at least makes a cameo. It's only fitting (and we still love us some Josh Lyman).

According to EW, Flaming Lips frontman Wayne Coyne said the initial concept spans two dimensions -- one in which the title character is fighting a chronic disease in a hospital, the other in which she is a Japanese warrior battling the famous pink robots that serve as manifestation of her real-life disease. "Or something like that."

Um, OK.

We have no idea how this will translate on a Broadway stage, but we're eager to follow the process. The album rocks and the Lips' are known for giving audiences sensory overload in concert settings. Allowing Coyne the chance to work with the effects possible with big budget theatre will lead to either brilliant absurdity or utter chaos.

We'll be ready to see whether which way it goes: The Who's Tommy or High Fidelity: The Musical.

Image of Wayne Coyne bubble-walking from the 2006 Austin City Limits Music Festival.