Australian KING KONG Musical Scouts Broadway Home, Hopes to Open in Next Two Years!

According to The Age, the creators of the new Australian musical KING KONG are searching for a theater on Broadway. Global Creatures' producer Bill Harris, technical director Richard Martin and production designer Peter England are vetting theaters this week. The team is looking to launch KING KONG in the United States within the next two years.

Director Carmen Pavlovic has given the go-ahead to create a replica of the 1.2-ton, animatronic-hydraulic-puppet star King Kong in Melbourne, saying: "The discussions we're having give us the confidence that second Kong will be required soon."

The company is hoping to find US-based partners for the show. Pavlovic added, "I'd hate to be seen as the arrogant outsider coming in and telling an iconic American tale. I like the idea of having local voices."

Pavlovic is also in discussions for potential KING KONG productions in Germany, Korea, Japan and Las Vegas after New York.

KING KONG also picked up five 2013 Helpmann Awards (the Australian equivalent of the Tonys) this year -- for Best Costume Design - Roger Kirk (he is also a former Tony Winner 1996 for King and I, 2001 nominee for 42nd Street); Best Scenic Design - Peter England; Best Lighting Design - Peter Mumford; Best Sound Design - Peter Hylenski (was nominated for a Tony this year); and Outstanding Theatrical Achievement - The Design, Creation & Operation of King Kong.

The new stage musical KING KONG is currently playing at the Regent Theatre in Melbourne, Australia. The production, which was originally slated to run through July 28, has extended again through January 26, 2014.

The principal cast features Esther Hannaford (Hairspray) as Ann Darrow, newcomer Adam Lyon as Carl Denham, Chris Ryan (Thyestes) as Jack Driscoll, veteran stage actor Richard Piper as Captain Engelhorn and the queen of musical theatre and cabaret, Queenie van de Zandt as Cassandra.

One of the world's great modern myths about an enormous creature and his battle for survival in New York City, KING KONG has gone back to the source - the novella of the original film by Merian C. Cooper and Edgar Wallace - in this world-first adaptation as a large-scale musical. Featuring a cast of 49 actors, singers, dancers, circus performers and puppeteers; a crew of 76; and arguably the most technologically advanced puppet in the world - a one-tonne, six-metre giant silverback - KING KONG will be an epic and dazzlingly original theatrical experience.