Rue McClanahan Cancels Her Dance Lessons

Rue McClanahan, who was to have starred in the upcoming Broadway production of Richard Alfieri’s play Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks, has chosen not to continue with the show. According to a press release issued this morning, the decision was made with the mutual consent of the producers. “I deeply regret that we have been unable to come to an agreement,” McClanahan said.

The star’s exit is only the latest bump on the play’s long road to New York. Six Dance Lessons was first seen in a production at the Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles that co-starred Uta Hagen and David Hyde Pierce. At one point, Hagen and Pierce were announced for a 2002 Broadway production, but those plans were ruined when Hagen suffered a stroke.

A new staging with McClanahan and Mark Hamill played at the Coconut Grove Playhouse in Florida earlier this year; that production had originally been scheduled for a Broadway run beginning in September 2003. According to the producers, a new opening date and star will be announced shortly. Hamill is slated to continue with the show.