Nobel Prize-winning "Doctor Zhivago" gets Broadway treatment

PanARMENIAN.Net - "Doctor Zhivago" gets Broadway treatment. The Russian romance centering on five intertwined lovers will officially open in New York on April 21, 2015. It will occupy the Broadway Theatre, replacing "Cinderella" which will end its run in January, AceShowbiz said.

Based on Boris Pasternak's Nobel Prize-winning novel, the musical is set to be directed by two-time Tony Award winner Des McAnuff ("Jersey Boys"). Casting is expected to be announced soon. Previews are scheduled to begin on March 27 next year.

"Zhivago" was first translated into movie in 1965. It earned at least 10 Oscar nominations and won five, but lost Best Picture to "The Sound of Music". The stage version first premiered at the La Jolla Playhouse in California in 2006 and then the revamped version was played in Sydney in 2011. Both were under McAnuff's direction.

"The creators of 'Doctor Zhivago,' the musical, have apparently learned much from their 2006 run at La Jolla Playhouse, where audiences reportedly felt history dwarfed the central story," read a review from Variety back then. "This new version makes love, not war, the central theme, and to moving effect."

The upcoming show features a book by Oscar nominee Michael Weller ("Ragtime"), music by Grammy winner and Tony nominee Lucy Simon ("The Secret Garden"), lyrics by Tony nominee Michael Korie ("Grey Gardens") and Emmy nominee Amy Powers ("Ella Enchanted"), and choreography by Tony nominee Kelly Devine ("Rocky").