It’s becoming increasingly challenging to get an original idea greenlit in Hollywood these days; some might say downright impossible. The musical theater world is facing similar challenges. It’s generally safer for a producer to back a jukebox musical full of already lovable hit songs rather than take a chance on a new work when you have no idea how audiences will respond.

So, of course, there’s no way a major motion picture studio would produce a feature-length movie musical with giant production numbers, full symphonic score by the music makers of “La La Land” and “Moulin Rouge!”and a cast of A-list celebrities, including Megan Thee Stallion, right?

Well, that’s not the case for A24, the independent studio that’s become a powerhouse in its own right on the backs of films like “Moonlight” and last year’s Best Picture Oscar-winner, “Everything Everywhere All at Once.” One of its new offerings is “Dicks: The Musical,” an adaptation of the raunchy 30-minute stage play “F***ing Identical Twins” by Aaron Jackson and Josh Sharp.

Reprising their roles from the stage version, Jackson and Sharp star as Trevor and Craig, a pair of self-absorbed business rivals who discover that they’re identical twins (even though they don’t really look that much alike). The two decide to switch places as part of plan to reunite their eccentric divorced parents, played by Nathan Lane (“The Producers”) and Megan Mullaly (“Will and Grace”). Think “Parent Trap” meets “The Book of Mormon.”

As the provocative titles of both the film and the stage musical suggestion, “Dicks” is a fast-paced, no-holds-barred, oddball, musical romp that purposely rejects the traditional boundaries of Hollywood — and society. As one of the film’s composers, Karl Saint Lucy, describes it, “Dicks” is a film for “naughty, dirty, pervy queer people and the people who love them.”

Saint Lucy and their co-composer, Marius De Vries, both credit A24 for their ability to put together such a unique and creative work.

“Once they decided they believed in it, they doubled down on that and let us do what we had to do,” De Vries said. “[A24] guided where necessary, but basically just let us go and follow our creative instincts.”

Perhaps it was the niche audience and cutting-edge comedy that drew A24 to the project. But Saint Lucy and De Vries both think it was something more.

“It’s very funny, but it’s also very well constructed, and constructed with an enormous amount of heart and emotional integrity,” De Vries said.

Saint Lucy has been with the project since its infancy, having composed the music for the original stage production. Their connection with Jackson and Sharp dates back to their joint involvement in Story Pirates, an organization of professional artists that adapt children’s stories for the stage. The trio decided to team up and hashed out the show in a rehearsal room over the course of a few weeks.

“In a strange way, doing kids comedy is how we got here!” Saint Lucy said, laughing.

But to turn their 30-minute stage show into a feature-length film required some heavy hitters. Enter De Vries. The Grammy winner’s credits as a music supervisor include “La La Land” and “Moulin Rouge!” His recent composing work includes 2022 Best Picture Oscar winner “CODA” and 2023 Best Documentary Oscar winner “Navalny.”

De Vries aid he knew that as important as it was to recognize that what works in a theater might be different from what works on film, it was still important to draw on elements of the theatrical experience. It was perhaps the unique experience of the stage show that made it more amenable to a cinematic adaptation.

Theater performers typically act and sing for the people in the back row. But screen performances are much more up close and intimate.

“This was always done in a teeny-tiny black box theater in a basement,” Saint Lucy said. “So, people who’ve seen this show have always been very up close with these performers, so I think that we were helped by that.”

Both composers agree that transferring the quick comedic pacing of the stage show to a cinematic structure was the most challenging.

“One of the comedic devices of the show when it was 30 minutes long was how fast it all moved and how quickly the story had to develop and twist and turn,” De Vries said. This presented challenges in developing the script, figuring out how the musical numbers would be spread out in the film format.

The challenges persisted through post-production, as film editors had to think about how to space out jokes. Sometimes they just come too quickly. They warned that particularly raucous audiences in some of the early showings, like at the Toronto International Film Festival, may have missed half the jokes because they were laughing for so long. But that’s probably OK, they think, as it will make people want to see it again.

There was also the need for a significant amount of new content, including more musical numbers. While the six original songs remain in movie in some shape or form, there’s a lot of new material. The soundtrack of “Dicks” has everything you’d come to expect from a typical Broadway musical, plus a little extra. Some might interpret it as a parody of Broadway, but it seems more like a tribute.

There are driving, energetic big band numbers like the overture, which sets up the classic New York City setting, and the stars’ introductory number, “I’ll Always Be on Top.” There are sentimental, lyrical songs like “No One Understands” and “Lonely.” Power ballads like “You Can’t Give Up” are reminiscent of Stephen Schwartz. Then there are numbers like “Gay Old Life” which jump from a dainty, soft-shoe feel to a tango, concluding with classic Broadway jazz kicks. All laden with so many expletives they would make Scorsese blush.

The finale (“All Love Is Love”) plays like a Black gospel song — fitting since God makes an appearance (a cameo by Bowen Yang of “Saturday Night Live”). The repeated refrain proclaims the deity’s sexuality, unapologetically using a reclaimed homophobic slur. It’s obviously meant to stir the pot, but you might actually find the notion sweet if you understood the context that preceded the song.

The variety of styles is entirely intentional. “We were given carte blanche to sort of approach the production of every song in whatever way we saw fit,” De Vries said. “We both had an appetite for it being as variegated as possible, and no one stopped us.”

Despite the heterogeneity, all the pieces seem to fit together well. The vocal numbers are skillfully weaved together by a masterful symphonic score that at times seems like it belongs in the classic movie musicals of the ’50s and ’60s.

When asked about what influenced their choice of styles, the duo said that it was less a matter of influence and more a matter of personnel.

“Megan Mullaly and Nathan Lane were in the frame from a fairly early stage, so that definitely informed the construction of the songs,” De Vries said.

But there was one element the two composers did not expect. Rap icon Megan Thee Stallion was later brought on to play Trevor and Craig’s boss. The cabaret number they had slated for that segment of the show was not going to be the best fit.

“Obviously we had to do something slightly at odds with the rest of the show to accommodate Megan and her particular brilliance,” De Vries said. The pair had only 24 hours to compose something new, and then another 24 hours to incorporate all the feedback from the three-time Grammy winner before they had to film the scene.

“She was so fantastically responsive in the way that she was kind to our initial clumsy gestures and helped us shape it into something that really worked,” De Vries said. “It’s just as well it did happen fast, because if we’d actually had time to think about what we were doing, we probably would’ve given up.”

The resulting scene (“Out-Alpha the Alpha”) is already garnering some Oscar buzz. Just imagine the Oscar producers clambering to figure out how to incorporate such a song into a fit-for-TV broadcast.

But when asked about their favorite number, the composers both selected “Lonely,” a duet in which Mullaly and Lane lament how their life paths have led them to be on their own. De Vries said he thinks it works on every level — performance, composition, the way it fits into the show — and that it’s also very funny. Saint Lucy added that “in many ways, that song kind of serves as the earnest heart of the show.”

Director Larry Charles (“Borat,” “Curb Your Enthusiasm”) lent his expertise to ensure the show’s comedic elements packed as much punch as possible. Based on the reception from previews and early reviews, audiences do seem to find it exceptionally funny. Saint Lucy thinks the shared theater experience is a big part of that.

“I really hope that people see it in the theater. I do think that this a movie that needs to be seen with others,” they said, likening it to audience experiences of “Rocky Horror Picture Show.”

As funny as “Dicks” is, both composers hope that it’s the show’s heart that will help it reach an audience beyond what you might expect for this kind.

“That’s a silly thing to say,” De Vries said, correcting himself. “There is no film of this kind.”