Gigi sets dates and Broadway Theatre

Tom Millward
Tom Millward



Producers of the upcoming revival of Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe's Oscar and Tony Award-winning musical comedy Gigi have now announced dates and a Broadway Theatre. The show will officially open on 8 April 2015 at the Neil Simon Theatre, following previews from 19 March.

This production is a re-envisioned adaptation by BAFTA Award-winning playwright and Emmy nominee Heidi Thomas and will be directed by Eric D. Schaeffer, with choreography by Joshua Bergasse, and produced by Jenna Segal.

Synopsis: Gigi tells the story of "a free-spirited teenage girl living in Paris at the turn of the century. She is groomed by her family to act as a companion to a bored, but extremely wealthy playboy and the pair eventually fall in love."

The cast of Gigi includes former Disney star Vanessa Hudgens (Gigi), alongside Victoria Clark (Mamita Alvarez), Dee Hoty (Aunt Alicia), Howard McGillin (Honore Lachaille), Corey Cott (Gaston Lachaille), Steffanie Leigh (Liane d'Exelmans), with Cameron Adams, Max Clayton, Madeleine Doherty, Ashley Blair Fitzgerald, Hannah Florence, Allison Jantzie, Brian Ogilvie, Ian Paget, James Patterson, Justin Prescott, Manuel Stark, Tanairi Sade Vazquez, Amos Wolff and Ashley Yeater.

The creative team features scenic design by Derek McLane, costumes by Catherine Zuber, lighting by Natasha Katz and sound design by Kai Harada. Musical direction is by James Moore, with orchestrations by August Eriksmoen and vocal and incidental music arrangements by Matt Aument and dance music arrangements by Sam Davis.

Prior to Broadway, Gigi is set to play a limited engagement in the Eisenhower Theater at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. The show will officially open on 29 January 2015, following previews from 16 January, and is booking through to 12 February 2015.

Gigi is based on the 1944 novel by Colette and was first adapted for the Broadway stage as a comedy play in 1951 by Anita Loos, with a then unknown Audrey Hepburn as its leading lady. Afterwards, it was picked up by the team of Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe, following their success with 'My Fair Lady', and adapted for the 1958 movie musical, which went on to win nine Academy Awards, including Best Picture. The score features tunes such as "Thank Heaven For Little Girls", "I Remember It Well", "The Night They Invented Champagne", and "It's a Bore". Its first outing as a Broadway musical came in November 1973 and won the Tony Award for Best Score in 1974, which included new songs such as "Paris is Paris Again", "I Never Want to Go Home Again", "The Contract", and "In This Wide, Wide World."

Vanessa Hudgens will be making her Broadway debut. She is perhaps best known for her role as Gabriella Montez in Disney's hit franchise "High School Musical". Her other notable film credits include 'Spring Breakers', 'Journey 2: The Mysterious Island', 'Thirteen', 'Sucker Punch', 'Bandslam' and 'Thunderbirds'. She also played the role of Mimi in 'RENT' at the Hollywood Bowl.

- by Tom Millward

Vanessa Hudgens

Originally published on