Encores! THE BAND WAGON Traveling to Broadway?

According to the New York Post, director and choreographer Kathleen Marshall could be "shepherding" Encores! THE BAND WAGON to Broadway before the Tony Awards cutoff.

Columnist Michael Riedel writes that THE LAST SHIP, SIDE SHOW and ON THE TOWN might not make it past the winter season, leaving space for Fran and Barry Weissler's production.

THE BAND WAGON begins previews this Thursday, November 6, with an opening set for November 8 at the New York City Center, featuring a Great-White-Way-caliber cast, including Tony Award winner Brian Stokes Mitchell, seven-time Emmy Award winner Tracey Ullman, Academy Award nominee Michael McKean, Tony Award nominee Laura Osnes, Tony Award nominee Tony Sheldon, Tony Award nominee Michael Berresse and Don Stephenson.

Based on the classic MGM film of the same title, the show has a book by Douglas Carter Beane adapted from the screenplay by Betty Comden and Adolph Green, with music by Arthur Schwartz and lyrics by Howard Dietz. The Band Wagon will be directed and choreographed by three-time Tony Award winnerKathleen Marshall with music direction by Todd Ellison.

A classic backstage musical, THE BAND WAGON tells the story of a washed-up Hollywood star (Brian Stokes Mitchell) who attempts to make a comeback by doing a Broadway show, and encounters an assortment of colorful characters: a British director (Tony Sheldon) who is a genius but has no business directing a musical, a leading lady who's never done a show before (Laura Osnes), and a composer and a lyricist who are at each other's throats (Michael McKeanand Tracey Ullman). All the things that could never happen in the New York theater today.

The Band Wagon will run for 12 performances through November 16. And then -- maybe -- it's Broadway!

Photo Credit: Joan Marcus