Gigi: musical to be revived on Broadway

Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe's musical comedy Gigi will return to Broadway, possibly as soon as the 2013-2014 season, directed by Tony Award-nominee Eric D. Schaeffer (Follies), in a new adaptation by British playwright and Emmy-nominated screenwriter Heidi Thomas ("Cranforde," "Upstairs Downstairs," "Call the Midwife").

A developmental reading is taking place later this month in New York City. No casting has been announced.

Set in the magical world of La Belle Époque in turn-of-the-century Paris, Gigi is a romantic comedy about a young woman groomed in the custom of her family to be a companion to a bored, wealthy playboy, until the two unexpectedly realize this is in fact true love.

Producer Jenna Segal said on the announcement,

Gigi lets us escape to an idyllic place where the girl gets the guy and love does conquer all. Heidi Thomas has restored Gigi to her rightful place at the centre of the story, backed by a funny, warm family of women that show the men in the world around them the finer meaning of life and love. This is 'chic lit' musical theatre!"

Heidi Thomas, writer and co-producer of the BBC/PBS series "Call the Midwife," who is adapting Alan Jay Lerner's book for the new production, says,

It's a touching, funny, captivating story of love and all the trials that go with it. Set in the most beautiful era in the history of the world's most romantic city, the messages in Gigi endure - 'Know your own worth. Write your own rules. And when you find love, never let it go.'