Finding Neverland Musical Will Open on Broadway in March

Finding Neverland, the new musical inspired by the 2004 film of the same title, will fly to Broadway in March, spokespeople for producer Harvey Weinstein have announced. The production, directed by Diane Paulus, opens tonight at the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

The musical, which features a score by British composer-lyricists Gary Barlow and Elliot Kennedy and a book by James Graham, will play a Broadway house owned by the Nederlander Organization, though the specific theater and dates have not yet been revealed.

Inspired by the film of the same title starring Johnny Depp and Kate Winslet, Finding Neverland explores the friendship between faltering playwright J.M. Barrie (Jeremy Jordan) and Sylvia Llewelyn Davies (Laura Michelle Kelly), a widowed mother of four boys, and how that relationship inspired Barrie to write his beloved Peter Pan stories.

Jordan and Kelly are joined at A.R.T. by Michael McGrath as Charles Frohman, Carolee Carmello as Madame du Maurier, Jeanna de Waal as Mary Barrie, Aidan Gemme as Peter, Alex Dreier as Michael, Sawyer Nunes as George, and Hayden Signoretti as Jack. The ensemble is made up of Courtney Balan, Dana Costello, Rory Donovan, Gaelen Gilliland, Thayne Jasperson, Josh Lamon, Melanie Moore, Mary Page Nance, Stuart Neal, Emma Pfaeffle, Jonathan Ritter, Tyley Ross, Julius Rubio, J.C. Schuster, Paul Slade Smith, and Ron Todorowski. Casting for the Broadway run has not been confirmed.

On the creative team are Mia Michaels (choreography), Scott Pask (scenic design), Suttirat Larlarb (costume design), Philip Rosenberg (lighting design), Jonathan Deans (sound design), Gilles Papain (projection design), Daniel Wurtzel (fan design), David Chase (musical supervisor), Mary-Mitchell Campbell (musical director), and Simon Hale (orchestrations).

Finding Neverland premiered, in a different production, at the Curve Theatre in Leicester, London, with a score by Scott Frankel and Michael Korie and a book by Allan Knee, who wrote the film's screenplay. After mixed reviews, an expected West End transfer was nixed, and the creative team, which also included director Rob Ashford, was overhauled.