Upcoming Musicals: Rebecca, Paradise Found, First Wives Club

Yes, folks, Rent has closed, after a long and healthy run. But the great thing about Broadway these days is that there are always plenty of shows to fill the void. Here's a sampling of some of the musicals on the horizon.

REBECCA: Based on the Daphne du Maurier novel, also the source of the Oscar-winning movie, directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring Lawrence Olivier and Joan Fontaine.
Staff: Book and lyrics by Michael Kunze, who got his start in musical theater translating hit shows into German, including The Phantom of the Opera and Mamma Mia. Music by Sylvester Levay. Direction by Francesca Zambello (The Little Mermaid).
Status: Premiered in Vienna in 2006, and is currently aiming for a 2010 Broadway opening.
My Take: I'm a big fan of the 1940 movie, and the story would seem to lend itself nicely to musical treatment. The show has apparently had numerous successful productions in Europe, but then, so did Dance of the Vampires, which Kunze also wrote. (Uh-oh)

PARADISE FOUND: Inspired by the Joseph Roth novel The Tale of the 1002nd Night. Set in 1870's Vienna, it tells the story of the shah of Persia's infatuation with an Austrian countess.
Staff: Direction by Harold Prince. Music by Johann Strauss II and Jonathan Tunick. Lyrics by Ellen Fitzhugh (Grind), and a libretto by Richard Nelson (Chess, James Joyce's The Dead).
Cast: Mandy Patinkin, John Cullum, Judy Kaye and Shuler Hensley
Status: The Broadway production will begin rehearsals next year. No word yet on whether there will be a tryout production, but the Center Theatre Group in Los Angeles, which runs the Ahmanson Theatre and the Mark Taper Forum, produced a reading in April 2008.
My Take: Not to be confused with Angels, the upcoming musical based on Milton's Paradise Lost (and, according to at least one cast member, embarrassingly bad.) The cast and crew of Paradise Found are a veritable Who's Who of Broadway royalty, but that's no guarantee of anything, as we saw in the extremely disappointing Lovemusik, Prince's last Broadway outing, which also lacked an original score. Prince recently told Michael Riedel of the New York Post that, despite the recent economic boom on Broadway, there's been a lack of real creativity. That's arguably true. But if Lovemusik is all that Prince has to offer in response, then his admonishments fall on deaf ears. Put up or shut up, Hal.

FIRST WIVES CLUB: Based on the 1996 movie of the same name.
Staff: Boasts a score by Motown writers Lamont Dozier, Brian Holland and Eddie Holland. ("How Sweet It Is," "Baby I Need Your Loving," "Stop! In the Name of Love," "You Can't Hurry Love" and "I Can't Help Myself.") The librettist is Tony-Award winner Rupert Holmes (The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Curtains). The director will be Francesca Zambello (see Rebecca above, also the Guthrie's Little House on the Prairie).
Cast: Nothing announced yet, but Liz Smith recently reported that the producers are planning to approach Bernadette Peters, Stockard Channing, and Megan Mullally.
Status: The show is scheduled to play the Old Globe in San Diego in the summer of 2009, prior to Broadway.
My Take: The popular-movie-gone-Broadway genre is officially tired, and I've always found the movie a bit nasty and mean-spirited. Also, the show is a bit too close in tone to 9 to 5, which will precede The First Wives Club on Broadway by at least a year. So, let's just say that it's not first on my list of shows to see. But I have a few friends in San Diego whom I keep meaning to visit. Maybe I'll pop out for one of the tryout performances. (You hear that, Stevie?)