Prequel to 'Peter Pan' heading to Broadway

[October 20, 2011]  NEW YORK (AP) -- A prequel to "Peter Pan" is flying to Broadway.

Producers Nancy Nagel Gibbs and Greg Schaffert said Wednesday that "Peter and the Starcatcher," the first play commissioned by Disney, will be staged in the spring. It was last seen off-Broadway at the New York Theatre Workshop, where it earned five Drama Desk nominations.

The cast and theater will be announced later. When it was off-Broadway, it starred Christian Borle, who is to appear on the NBC series "Smash," and Adam Chanler-Berat, who is currently starring in the off-Broadway revival of "Rent" at New World Stages.

The play is written by Tony Award nominee Rick Elice, and co-directed by Roger Rees, who is now starring in "The Addams Family," and Alex Timbers, who directed "Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson." Twelve actors play some 50 characters.

The madcap look at Peter Pan's background is based on the novel of the same name by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson. An early version was staged at the La Jolla Playhouse in the winter of 2009.

It's the latest success for Disney, whose musical adaptation of the 1992 film "Newsies" has also become a hit at the Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn, N.J.

[Associated Press; By MARK KENNEDY]

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