Jack O'Brien & Jerry Mitchell Wrestle with New LOVE NEVER DIES / CATCH ME IF YOU CAN Scheduling Conflict

The New York Times reports that the anticipated Broadway productions of LOVE NEVER DIES or CATCH ME IF YOU CAN may possibly find themselves with a new director/choreographer team shortly. Director/choreographer duo Jack O'Brien and Jerry Mitchell are attached to both projects, but now that LOVE NEVER DIES has announced a delayed Broadway opening to the Spring of 2011 - the same time CATCH ME IF YOU CAN is slated to premiere - it is questionable as to whether the pair can realistically take on both anymore.

Before the producers of LOVE NEVER DIES announced yesterday that the show would not be coming into Broadway on November 11, 2010 as originally announced, O'Brien and Mitchell had planned on prepping LOVE over the summer for a fall premiere, going directly into prep for CATCH thereafter for a spring opening.

Producers for both productions claim that their schedules, at least, are not changing due to the potential conflict - at the moment, anyway.  Says Margo Lion, lead producer for CATCH: "We're sticking with our schedule to go into rehearsal in January, and we'll see how that plays out...We have a plan in place with the rest of our creative team, with our investors, and we're not planning to change that plan." The producers of LOVE said in their statement yesterday that they are taking into account the schedules of those involved but did not comment on O'Brien or Mitchell's CATCH commitment specifically.

LOVE NEVER DIES is reportedly being delayed due to composer Andrew Lloyd Webber's poor health, and complications from his recent treatment for prostate cancer. LOVE NEVER DIES opened 9 March in London at the Adelphi Theatre and previews began on 22 February. LOVE NEVER DIES stars Sierra Boggess and Ramin Karimloo. The show was scheduled to open in New York on November 11, 2010 and in Australia in 2011. www.loveneverdies.com.

LOVE NEVER DIES continues the story of 'The Phantom', who has moved from his lair in the Paris Opera House to haunt the fairgrounds of Coney Island, far across the Atlantic. Set 10 years after the mysterious disappearance of 'The Phantom' from Paris, this show is a rollercoaster ride of obsession and intrigue...in which music and memory can play cruel tricks...and 'The Phantom' sets out to prove that, indeed, LOVE NEVER DIES.

Adapted from the screenplay by Jeff Nathanson and the book written by Frank Abagnale Jr. and Stan Redding, CATCH ME IF YOU CAN the musical had it's world premiere in a three week engagement at Seattle's 5th Avenue Theatre this summer, winning positive reviews. The musical is additionally based on the hit DreamWorks film and boasts a book by four-time Tony Award-winner Terrence McNally, who had joined forces with the collaborative team behind the hit musical Hairspray, including five-time Tony Award-winning director Jack O'Brien, Tony Award-winning choreographer Jerry Mitchell, and Tony Award-winning composing team Marc Shaiman (music & lyrics) and Scott Wittman (lyrics).

CATCH ME IF YOU CAN is the true story of Frank Abagnale, Jr., a sexy young con artist who posed, and was employed, as a doctor, lawyer and Pan Am pilot all before he was 21. Carl Hanratty, a middle-aged bored FBI agent, comes alive when assigned to catch this charming swindler whose check-forging skills have netted him more than $2.8 million. The battle of wills intensifies as they become curious about one another and begin to question what they're each chasing in their own lives. With a score soaked in the jazzy, swingin' '60s jet-set culture, the game of cat and mouse has never been so stylish.

Photo Credit: Walter McBride/Retna Ltd.