Curtains: the last musical written by Kander and Ebb is to open at Al Hirschfeld on 22 Mar 2007

Curtains: A Backstage Murder Mystery Musical Comedy, the last collaboration by song writing duo John Kander and Fred Ebb, is to open at Broadway's Al Hirschfeld Theatre on 22 Mar 2007, following previews from 27 Feb 2007.

Curtains had its world premiere earlier this year at Los Angeles' Center Theatre's Ahmanson Theatre.

Curtains is set in 1959 in Boston during the pre-Broadway tryout of a new musical called Robin Hood. When the leading lady mysteriously dies onstage during the applause at the end of the show, the entire company and creative team are possible suspects; their various motives must be sorted out by a local detective (Pierce) who happens to be a musical theater fan.

Directed by Scott Ellis and choreographed by Rob Ashford, Curtains will feature the shows original stars: David Hyde Pierce (Detective), Debra Monk (Producer), Karen Ziemba, Jason Danieley, Jill Paice and Edward Hibbert, who reprose their roles for the Broadway production.

The cast will also feature John Bolton (Theatre Critic Daryl Grady), Michael X. Martin (Stage manager Johnny Harmon), Michael McCormick (Investor Oscar Shapiro), Noah Racey (Lead dancer/choreographer Bobby Pepper) and Megan Sikora as (Dancer Bambi Bernstein).

Additional members of the 28-person cast will be announced shortly.

The book for Curtains has book by Rupert Holmes - based on a concept by the late Peter Stone, score by John Kander and lyrics by Fred Ebb, with additional lyrics by Rupert Holmes.

Set design is by Anna Louizos, with costumes by William Ivey Long, lighting by Peter Kaczorowski and sound by Brian Ronan.

Curtains is being produced on Broadway by Roger Berlind, Roger Horchow, Daryl Roth, Jane Berg�re, Ted Hartley and Center Theatre Group.

Tickets go on sale to the general public on 21 Jan 2007.

Curtains is the last musical to be written by the songwritting pair John Kander and Fred Ebb who have collaborated over the last 40 years and whose works include 'Cabaret', 'chicago' and 'Kiss of the Spider Woman.'

John Kander and Fred Ebb began working on the musical with librettist Peter Stone. When Stone died in 2003, Ebb continued working on the musical with librettist Robert Holmes, who wrote a new book for the musical based on Stone's ideas. When Ebb himself died from a heart attack in September 2004, Holmes wrote additoinal lyrics for the show.