Confirmed: LYSISTRATA JONES To Play Walter Kerr Theater This Fall; Previews Begin Nov. 14

Though heavily speculated since the circulation of Broadway audition notices, the New York Times has just released the news that Douglas Carter Beane's LYSISTRATA JONES will indeed head to Broadway in the fall, beginning previews at the Walter Kerr Theatre November 12, 2011 in anticipation of a December 14 opening. The production last played the basketball court of the Judson Memorial Church Gymnasium off-Broadway in Washington Square, opening on June 5. The production was presented by the Transport Group Theatre Company. The new musical features a book by Douglas Carter Beane, music and lyrics by Lewis Flinn and will be directed and choreographed by Dan Knechtges. The New York Times reports that capitalization is set at 6M for the new Broadway incarnation.  Most of the off-Broadway cast wil transfer with the show.

In the show, The Athens University basketball team hasn't won a game in 30 years. But when spunky transfer student Lysistrata Jones dares the squad's fed-up girlfriends to stop ‘giving it up' to their boyfriends until they win a game, their legendary losing streak could be coming to an end.

Adapted from Aristophanes' comedy, Lysistrata, Tony-nominated bookwriter Douglas Carter Beane (Sister Act, Xanadu,The Little Dog Laughed) and composer-lyricist Lewis Flinn (The Divine Sister) have given the classic Greek tale a riotous new twist. Directed and choreographed by Tony nominee Dan Knechtges (Xanadu, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee) and staged in an actual gymnasium, Lysistrata Jones takes student activism to a whole new level and celebrates the journey of discovering and embracing who you truly are.

Set design for the off-Broadway production was is by Allen Moyer (Tony nominee for Grey Gardens; The Little Dog Laughed; Twelve Angry Men; The Man Who Had All the Luck); costume design was by David C. Woolard (Tony nominee for The Rocky Horror Show and The Who's Tommy) and Thomas LeGalley (The 39 Steps at Hartford Stage); lighting design was by Michael Gottlieb (The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged); Election Day; The Last Session), sound design was by Tony Meola (Drama Desk winner for The Lion King; Wicked; The Wild Party; Les Miserables). Brad Simmons musical directed. 

Photo Credit: Kevin Thomas Garcia