Pump Boys and Dinettes: Bo Bice on B'way?

The Producers of the new Broadway production of Pump Boys and Dinettes have postponed its Broadway opening.

Producer Abby Lee said, "On behalf of my fellow producers and investors, we are all so excited to bring Pump Boys and Dinettes back to Broadway. With the crowded landscape on Broadway this spring, we all agreed that the wise choice was to proceed with a new opening date. We are in the process of determining the updated production schedule and look forward to sharing this wonderful musical with Broadway audiences in the near future."

Full production details will be announced at a later date. Pump Boys and Dinettes was previously scheduled to open at the Circle in the Square Theatre on 08 Apr 2013, following previews from 19 Mar 2013.

The revival of Pump Boys and Dinettes will be directed by Tony Award-winner John Doyle, using the director's trademark of having the cast double as the musical's orchestra - a technique he used to critical acclaim in his productions of 'Sweeney Todd' and 'Company.'

Bo Bice, runner up to Carrie Underwood in the fourth season of "American Idol," was to have led an ensemble that was also to have featured Alexander Gemignani (Sweeney Todd), Erik Hayden (Million Dollar Quartet), Justin Hosek, Jane Pfitsch (Company) and Leenya Rideout (War Horse).

Pump Boys and Dinettes tells the story of four men who work at a gas station, and two women waitresses at the "Double Cupp Diner", a dinette, located somewhere between Frog Level and Smyrna, North Carolina.

The revival of Pump Boys and Dinettes is to be produced on Broadway by Abby Lee, David B. Brode, Lee Seymour, Alec Seymour, Suzanne & Michael H. Moskow and Executive Producer Tom Viertel.

The show, which was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Musical, opened Off-Broadway in 1981 and moved to Broadway at the Princess Theater (now demolished) in Feb 1982, running for 573 performances.

Pump Boys and Dinettes' book, music and lyrics were written by the show's original Broadway company: John Foley, Mark Hardwick, Debra Monk, Cass Morgan, John Schimmel and Jim Wann.