Panic! At The Disco Downsizes, May Head To B’way

Like those rockers before them, the Las Vegas-based band is interested in taking their sound to Broadway.

“That would be amazing,” drummer Spencer Smith said in a recent interview. “To put together a show that was a mix of our music as well as maybe tell a story … that would be like a dream,” he continued.

Smith acknowledges that he doesn’t know how to make that happen for Panic! _or if the goal is even possible.

“It would be in like New Jersey. Like off-Broadway. Really far,” Smith said, sharing a laugh with Brendon Urie, the band’s vocalist.

Tommy, the 1969 album from the Who, was adapted to a Tony-winning Broadway musical in the early 1990s. Most recently, Green Day gave new life to their Grammy-winning, multiplatinum-selling CD, 2004’s American Idiot, when they brought the concept album to Broadway last year in a Tony Award-winning production.

But heading to the stage wouldn’t be a stretch for Panic! From the music video for their debut song, “I Write Sins Not Tragedies,” to their latest clip, “The Ballad of Mona Lisa,” the pop-rockers enjoy acting, dressing up and being theatrical.

“Every musician wants to act, but we have a way to do it where people know we’re not trained actors, so we can be a little bit cheesy,” Smith said.

They can also be seen acting in “The Overture,” a short film they released on their website to promote Vices & Virtues, their recently released third CD.

Urie says this time around, the group had more creative agreement while making the album because they downsized. Singer-guitarist Ryan Ross and bassist Jon Walker left Panic! in 2009 and formed the band The Young Veins, releasing the album Take a Vacation! in June.

“Everybody wants their opinion heard and so you argue a lot more with four cooks in the kitchen,” Urie said. “(Spencer and I) had been on the same page (regarding) where we saw the album going so in that sense there wasn’t really any arguing and that kind of helped.”

Smith said after finishing the tour to promote 2008’s Pretty. Odd., band members were split about the creative path for Panic!’s future. Personally, things got tough, too.

“You’re best friends and you live with these people so you can tell, you know, that there’s like some tension there,” Smith said. “After we kind of got off tour and it came time to record, we talked about it, and it just seemed like what (happened) needed to happen for our personal relationships, too. Now we’re able to actually talk with those guys and not have the music stuff there to create tension.”

The duo will kick off a European tour April 29. They’ll hit the road in America on May 22 in Boston.