Breaking: Susan Stroman Will Direct Broadway-Bound CRAZY FOR YOU Revival in LA!

Center Theatre Group Artistic Director Michael Ritchie and Broadway producer Joey Parnes announced today that the Tony Award-winning Best Musical, "Crazy for You," with music and lyrics by George Gershwin and Ira Gershwin and a book by two-time Tony Award nominee Ken Ludwig ("Lend Me a Tenor"), will be produced by Center Theatre Group in an exclusive pre-Broadway engagement at the Ahmanson Theatre. Susan Stroman ("The Producers," "Show Boat," "Contact"), who won the first of her five Tony Awards for choreographing the original 1992 Broadway production of the musical, will direct and choreograph this limited Los Angeles engagement which will begin performances February 7, 2018, and run through March 18, 2018.

"'Crazy for You' is - at its heart - a raucous musical tale about the power art has to bring life to a community and purpose to its people," Ms. Stroman said. "It's as resonant today as ever, and I am thrilled at the chance to re-discover this show and introduce a whole new generation to its great comedy, unabashed romance and the most choreographically-inspiring Gershwin music the world has ever known."

"I'm thrilled that a whole new generation of theatregoers will get to see 'Crazy for You' at the great and glorious Ahmanson Theatre," said Ken Ludwig. "It will be a treat for me to roll up my sleeves, revisit the show and spend time once again in Deadrock, Nevada with Bobby, Polly and Bela Zangler."

Stroman directed a concert version in February, featuring Laura Osnes and Tony Yazbeck:

Featuring a score of showstoppers by George and Ira Gershwin including "I Got Rhythm," "Embraceable You," "Slap That Bass" and "Someone To Watch Over Me," "Crazy for You" is an irresistibly funny valentine to the American musicals of the 1930s. The book by Ken Ludwig brings audiences into a world of cowboys and showgirls, where a Wall Street guy and a Main Street gal can fall madly in love, put on a show and dance their way to happiness.

When "Crazy for You" first premiered on Broadway in 1992, Frank Rich raved in The New York Times, "When future historians try to find the exact moment at which Broadway finally rose up to grab the musical back from the British, they just may conclude that the revolution began last night. The shot was fired at the Shubert Theater, where a riotously entertaining show called 'Crazy for You' uncorked the American musical's classic blend of music, laughter, dancing, sentiment and showmanship with a freshness and confidence rarely seen... 'Crazy for You' scrapes away decades of cabaret and jazz and variety-show interpretations to reclaim the Gershwins' standards, in all their glorious youth, for the dynamism of the stage." It went on to win Tony Awards for Best Musical, Best Choreography and Best Costume Design of a Musical, playing 1,622 performances.

"Crazy for You" completes Center Theatre Group's 2017 - 2018 Season at the Ahmanson Theatre, which includes the previously announce productions of "The Red Shoes," "Bright Star," "Something Rotten!," "Soft Power" and "The Humans." Tickets for "Crazy for You" are currently available by season ticket membership only. For information and to charge season tickets by phone, call the Exclusive Season Ticket Hotline at (213) 972-4444. To purchase season memberships online, visit Susan Stroman Will Direct Broadway-Bound Crazy for You Revival in LA!" www.CenterTheatreGroup.org/Ahmanson.

Photo Credit: Walter McBride / WM Photos