PHANTOM OF THE OPERA - FRED AND GINGER -- ON STAGE!

In the latest film-into-stage-show metamorphosis, a musical based on the movies of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers is being mounted on London's West End with Broadway its ultimate destination, according to syndicated columnist Liz Smith. According to Smith, the musical, Dancing the Night Away, is being choreographed by Gillian Lynne, whose previous hits have included Cats, Phantom of the Opera and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. In her column today (Friday), Smith quoted Lynne as saying, "There is something fantastic about a man and a woman dancing close. I am sick of street dancing and hip-hop . . . We want to give audiences escapism and magic and take the electrifying charge of dance to new heights." Meanwhile, it was announced Thursday that Mel Brooks's The Producers, another Hollywood-to-Broadway pilgrim, will close at the St. James Theatre on April 22 after six years. It is set to be replaced by the stage version of another Brooks movie, Young Frankenstein. And FoxNews.com's Roger Friedman reported that a big-budget musical based on Gone With the Wind is due to be presented on stage in London in 2008.

23/02/2007