Breaking News: Kitt & Yorkey's FREAKY FRIDAY to Make World Premiere at D.C's Signature Theatre

Get ready for a supernatural mother-daughter body swap -- onstage! BroadwayWorld is excited to report that D.C.'s Signature Theatre will present the world-premiere production of the new musical FREAKY FRIDAY.

The musical, based on the beloved 1972 novel by Mary Rodgers and hit Disney films and developed by Disney Theatrical Productions, features a book by Bridget Carpenter, music by Tom Kitt and lyrics by Brian Yorkey. This premiere production will be directed by Christopher Ashley with choreography by Sergio Trujillo.

FREAKY FRIDAY will run from October 4 - November 13 in Signature Theatre's MAX Theatre.

The creative team comprises some of the most sought-after artists working in the musical theatre and a major voice new to the medium. Playwright Bridget Carpenter writes her first musical book, having served as co-executive producer and writer on two recent beloved TV hits, "Friday Night Lights" and "Parenthood," and currently as executive producer and showrunner of Hulu's highly-anticipated event series "11.22.63," based on the Stephen King bestselling novel. Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and a Tony Award for their ground-breaking Next to Normal and most recently created the celebrated musical If/Then, which premiered at The National Theatre in Washington, DC. Director Christopher Ashley is a two-time Tony nominee (Rocky Horror Show and Memphis) and artistic director of the world-renowned La Jolla Playhouse. Olivier Award winner Sergio Trujillo, one of Broadway's busiest choreographers, is best known for the 10-year smash Jersey Boys and his newest hit On Your Feet.

When an overworked mother and her teenage daughter magically swap bodies, they have just one day to put things right again before mom's big wedding. FREAKY FRIDAY, a new musical comedy based on the celebrated novel by Mary Rodgers and hit Disney films, is a hilarious, contemporary update of an American classic in which a mother and daughter really see what it is to be a family and experience first-hand each other's lives, if only for a day.

Set in the present day, FREAKY FRIDAY features a tuneful pop-rock score, befitting a work that has effortlessly updated throughout its several iterations. The novel (1972), the first film starring Barbara Harris and Jodie Foster (1976), the second film starring Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan (2003) and this new stage musical are all set in their respective present day.

"Signature Theatre is pleased to be teaming with Disney on bringing the world premiere of FREAKY FRIDAY to Signature," said Eric Schaeffer, Signature Theatre Artistic Director. "With this terrific writing team of Bridget, Tom and Brian along with Chris and Sergio leading the charge, FREAKY FRIDAY promises to be an exciting new musical of the classic Mary Rodgers tale. We're thrilled to be able to bring this special show to DC for its premiere."

"Mary Rodgers single-handedly invented the body-switch genre with her remarkable book, FREAKY FRIDAY, more than 40 years ago and now this team of theatre artists, working at the top of their game, have brought it to rich theatrical life onstage," said Thomas Schumacher, president and producer of Disney Theatrical Group. "Having developed the title here at Disney Theatrical, we can't wait to now share FREAKY FRIDAY with Signature's audiences and then to release the title for licensing so theatres worldwide can realize their own take on this funny, touching musical."

The title was developed by Disney Theatrical to be licensed via partner MTI first to professional and then amateur theatres. It follows the trajectory of THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME, which is now available to professional theatres worldwide following acclaimed engagements at La Jolla Playhouse and Paper Mill Playhouse.

Casting and remaining creative team members will be announced in the coming months.

Recipient of the 2009 Regional Theatre Tony Award, Signature Theatre is a non-profit professional theater company in Arlington, Virginia dedicated to producing contemporary musicals and plays, reinventing classic musicals, and developing new work. Under the leadership of co-founder and Artistic Director Eric Schaeffer and Managing Director Maggie Boland, Signature has presented 44 world premiere productions and is renowned for combining Broadway-quality productions with intimate playing spaces.

In addition to hosting the finest talent from the DC metropolitan area and New York, Signature has been home to such luminaries as Chita Rivera, Sheryl Crow, Barry Levinson, George Hearn, Hunter Foster, Emily Skinner, Kathleen Marshall, Ann Reinking, Marc Kudisch, Judy Kuhn, John Kander and Fred Ebb, Cameron Mackintosh, Terrence McNally, and the company's signature composer, Stephen Sondheim. Since its founding in 1989, Signature has won 94 Helen Hayes Awards for excellence in the Washington, DC region's professional theater and has been honored with 368 nominations.

Photo Credit: Walter McBride