Two Broadway legends are being saluted in a couple of forthcoming musical revues.
First up is Hal Prince, whose life and shows are the subjects of “The Prince of Broadway.” Sources say it’s slated to open at the Manhattan Theatre Club’s Samuel J. Friedman Theatre a year from now. “Hamilton” producer Jeffrey Seller is quietly involved in the production. If it’s a hit, he’ll move it to another theater for an open-ended run.
Prince, 88, has been working on the show for several years with director Susan Stroman (“The Producers”). It was supposed to open on Broadway in 2012, but was scuttled due to an escalating budget. Prince and Stroman took the $9 million production to Japan last year and were, I’m told, pleased with the reception.
The autobiographical musical features show-stopping numbers from shows either produced or directed by Prince, including “West Side Story,” “Fiddler on the Roof,” “Cabaret,” “Company,” “Follies,” “Sweeney Todd” and “The Phantom of the Opera.”
Prince narrates the show in the form of an Al Hirschfeld hologram, a bit like Alec Guinness’ Obi-Wan Kenobi.
Casting isn’t set yet, but my hunch is that the company will include Ramin Karimloo, Emily Skinner and Nancy Opel from the Japanese production. Tony winner Shuler Hensley, who’s been with the show from the start, may opt for a London production of Mel Brooks’ “Young Frankenstein” musical instead.
Further down the pipeline is a revue featuring dances from Jerome Robbins’ Broadway musicals and ballets. Warren Carlyle staged a top-secret (not anymore!) workshop at City Center last week. There were numbers from “The King and I,” “Gypsy,” “High Button Shoes” and “On the Town.” The dancers performed “I’m Flying” from “Peter Pan” without the wires. They pranced around the stage, prompting Carlyle to joke that the invited audience was watching a “cheap version of Flying By Foy.”
Ballets included “Afternoon of a Faun,” “The Cage” and “Fanfare.”
There was no narration, but Victoria Clark (“The Light in the Piazza”) sang a handful of songs from Robbins’ musicals.
The show is not to be confused with “Jerome Robbins’ Broadway,” a revue Robbins staged in 1989. It won the Tony that year for Best Musical.
A big difference is the atmosphere: Robbins was a tyrant; Carlyle is a sweetheart.
“If a dancer gained a pound, Jerry would scream at him and stick him in the last row,” Emanuel Azenberg, who produced the show, once told me.
No word on a timetable for this new Robbins project, but a source who saw it said, “It’s a little esoteric, but fascinating. I think it could do extremely well at one of the non-profit theaters.”