I just got my Broadway Across America season-ticket confirmation, and it lists my date to see the "new" musical Nice Work If You Can Get It as TBD. Then today's Boston Globe reports that the Boston bow for Nice Work has been "officially postponed," with no new dates currently scheduled.
This is certainly no surprise, given the recent shakeup in the production staff for the supposedly Broadway-bound musical. Original director and choreographer Kathleen Marshall left the show when star Harry Connick, Jr. fired his agent Scott Landis from working on the show. Marshall happens to be in a relationship with Landis, so she left as well. Apparently the producers haven't had an easy time replacing Marshall, at least in time to get the show into rehearsal for the Boston tryout.
The show appears to be a reworking of the Gershwin musical Oh, Kay!, and features a book by Joe DiPietro (I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change and All Shook Up). The score will comprise standards from the Gershwin songbook. Are we really at such a great loss if we miss out on yet another Gershwin jukebox musical? I mean, it would be nice to see Connick on the boards again, but unless they're able to attract some world-class talent to direct and choreograph this baby, we'll probably end up with another The Boy From Oz: a show that attracts audiences, but adds little or nothing to the artistic development of the musical-theater canon.
