Beauty: Regina Spektor to score a Broadway musical


New York Singer-songwriter Regina Spektor is to score the music for Beauty, a new Broadway musical based on the fairytale 'Sleeping Beauty.' Spektor is collaborating with lyricist Michael Korie (Grey Gardens) and Tina Landau (Superior Donuts) who is writing the book and directing the production.

Beauty is being produced by Elephant Eye Theatricals, the team behind the upcoming Broadway musical 'The Addams Family,' and is expected to arrive on Broadway during the 2011- 12 season.

Russian born singer-songwriter Regina Spektor first began to break waves with her unique musical style - a mixture of anti-folk, indie rock and blues - in New York City East Village. She has since gone on to be a major artists who has released five albums- her latest being 'Far,' which was issued in Jun 2009. Her 2006 album, 'Begin to Hope' has sold more than one millions copies worldwide.

The book for the musical Beauty will be an expansion of Landau's 2002 acclaimed one-act play, 'Beauty,' produced by the La Jolla Playhouse, that uses the 1812 Grimm fairy tale 'Sleeping Beauty' as a jumping off point for a contemporary and hauntingly provocative story of beauty lost and beauty found.

The one act play, set in a medieval timescape, tells the story of a beautiful girl named Rose who comes of age just as the world slips into the modern era. At the same time, James, a young man living in a modern metropolis, sets off on a journey into the past to search for the beauty that has been lost to the world. As the old crone Constance retells the story of Sleeping Beauty from her own perspective, the beloved fable transforms into a tale for our contemporary world.

Landau is currently directing the Broadway production of Tracy Letts' 'Superior Donuts'. She is a writer and director whose original pieces include the plays 'Space,' 'Theatrical Essays,' '1969,' 'Beauty' ) and 'Stonewall,' as well as the musicals 'Floyd Collins' and 'Dream True.' Off-Broadway she has directed 'Wig Out,' and is the director of the Public's production of "The Sister/Brother Plays Part1" which begins performances in Oct 2009. Landau is an ensemble member of Steppenwolf Theater Company where her productions include 'Superior Donuts,' 'The Tempest,' 'The Diary of Anne Frank,' 'The Cherry Orchard,' 'Time of Your Life ,' 'Ballad of Little Jo,' 'Berlin Circle' and 'Time to Burn.'

Michael Korie wrote the lyrics for the Broadway musical 'Grey Gardens,' score composed by his writing partner Scott Frankel, for which the pair were nomoinated for Tony Awards. With Frankel he also collaberated in the musical 'Happiness,' which played at the Lincoln Center.

Originally published on

Subscribe to our newsletter to unlock exclusive New York theatre updates!

Special offers, reviews and release dates for the best shows in town.

You can unsubscribe at any time. Privacy Policy