Theater News

Harmony Canceled, No Longer Broadway-Bound

The production of the Barry Manilow-Bruce Sussman musical Harmony that was to have opened on Broadway early in 2004 has been canceled. The show about the Comedian Harmonists, with music by Manilow and book and lyrics by Sussman, had been set to begin performances at Philadelphia’s Forrest Theatre on December 2 and to open officially there on December 10 prior to its planned move to Broadway.

“Apparently the lead producer, Marc Schwartz, had not raised the money that he said he’d raised, and they just ran out,” a source close to the production told TheaterMania. “They’re hoping to bring other people on and get it started again in a couple of weeks.”

The show had been rehearsing in New York over the past several weeks. It was to have starred Brian d’Arcy James, Stephen R. Buntrock, Janine LaManna, Kate Baldwin, Bradley Dean, Aaron Lazar, David Turner, and Thom Christopher Warren. The creative team included director David Warren, choreographer Peter Pucci, scenic designer Derek McLane, costume desiger David Woolard, lighting designer David Binkley, and orchestrator Don Sebesky.

Harmony had originally been scheduled to reach New York following a developmental production at the La Jolla Playhouse in 1997, but those plans fell through.