Cinderella doesn't seem to be working out at the Broadway Theatre so ownership is going in a different direction with the space: Dr. Zhivago. The musical, based on the classic film and novel, will begin previews during late March, according to Billboard.
No casting calls have been made yet but the director has already been announced to be Des McAnuff, who won a Best Director Tony Award for his work on Big River (1985) and The Who's Tommy (1993). Perhaps the decision is least surprising as McAnuff was the director for the original musical rendition of Dr. Zhivago as well, which premiered during 2006 at the La Jolla Playhouse in California. A more recent version has also played in Sydney. McAnuff's most recent project on Broadway was Jersey Boys.
Music and lyrics for the musical were handled by Lucy Simon and Michael Korie respectively.
Fans and producers of Dr. Zhivago probably realized long ago that the way to get critical acclaim was to go the musical route. Although the original novel, written by Boris Pasternak, won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1958, the film failed to grab the Best Picture (although it received ten nominations). The winner that year? The Sound of Music.
