Victoria Clark, Montego Glover and Tsidii Le Loka Take Part in Convicted Producer Garth Drabinsky's MADAME SOUSATZKA Workshop

Convicted forger and producer Garth Drabinsky announced his next stage project two years ago -- a new musical based on the 1988 film MADAME SOUSATZKA (which he produced, starring Shirley MacLaine).

Now the New York Post reports that Broadway stars Victoria Clark (The Light in the Piazza, Cinderella), Montego Glover (Memphis), and Tsidii Le Loka (The Lion King) are currently taking part in a five-week Toronto workshop of the production. And this is Drabinsky's second workshop -- the Post writes that the producer captured an earlier one on film.

MADAME SOUSATZKA is aiming for a fall debut in Toronto before a Broadway run next spring. But because Drabinsky is still under indictment in the United States, he is seeking an American partner to bring the show to the Great White Way.

As previously reported, Drabinsky has also allegedly spoken with Richard Maltby, Jr. about joining the team. The pair worked together on FOSSE, which won the Tony for Best Musical in 1999.

The movie MADAME SOUSATZKA centers on a renowned Russian piano teacher, Irina Sousatzka, who gets a new student -- Bengali piano prodigy Manek. The pair quickly forms a bond over their immigrant backgrounds.

MADAME SOUSATZKA is not Drabinsky's only endeavor in the works; he has also secured the rights to Studs Terkel's HARD TIMES: AN ORAL HISTORY OF THE GREAT DEPRESSION and is looking to enlist AN AMERICAN IN PARIS director Christopher Wheeldon and book writer Craig Lucas for a Broadway production.

Drabinsky is out on parole after serving three years in Canadian prison for fraud and forgery. He and his business partner Myron Gottlieb (who received a four-year sentence) were convicted of two counts of fraud in 2009 after misreporting Livent's quarterly financial statements. Livent, now defunct, was one of North America's biggest Live Theatre companies in the '90s. The company had produced such Broadway shows as Ragtime, Showboat, The Phantom of the Opera and Kiss of the Spider Woman.

Despite the fact that Drabinsky served three years up north for his crimes, he was never extradited to the U.S. to be tried on some 16 counts of fraud and conspiracy.