Broadway Musical Houdini Aims for 2010 Bow

Houdini, a new musical based on the life of the magician Harry Houdini, is aiming to open on Broadway in Spring 2010. The show will be produced by Scott Sanders and architect David Rockwell, who will also design the production, and will be directed by Tony Award winner Jack O’Brien. Houdini will feature a score by Danny Elfman (music) and David Yazbek (lyrics), and a book by Kurt Andersen.

Sanders is best known as the producer of The Color Purple. Rockwell, head of the Rockwell Group, has designed the sets for Hairspray, Legally Blonde, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, All Shook Up, and The Rocky Horror Show.

O’Brien won Tony Awards for his direction of The Coast of Utopia, Henry IV, and Hairspray. His other Broadway credits include Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, The Full Monty, and The Invention of Love.

Elfman is a three-time Oscar nominee for the scores of Good Will Hunting, Men In Black, and Big Fish, and has composed dozens of other film scores, including Batman. Yazbek is a Tony nominee for the scores of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and The Full Monty. Andersen is a noted author and magazine editor, best known for being the co-founder of Spy. He co-authored the Off-Broadway revue Loose Lips.