Lucie Arnaz to Direct Broadway-Bound Musical HAZEL Based on 1960's TV Comedy

The New York Post's Michael Riedel reports that HAZEL, an NBC comedy which aired from 1961 - 1966 and followed a live-in maid who unintentionally wreaked havoc on the home of the Baxter family, is now a Broadway-bound musical. Lucie Arnaz, whose legendary mother Lucille Ball was also a fixture of that era of television, is set to direct the production.

According to the report, Arnaz recently staged a reading of the show titled "Hazel, a Musical Maid in America," with music and lyrics by Ron Abel and chuck Steffan. Klea Blackhurst took on the title role in the project which was well received. Lissa Leven, who has worked on such classic TV shows as "Cheers" and "Family Ties" penned the original book.

The plot of the show focuses on the period before Hazel takes on the job as a maid. Instead, she is an older woman who is facing financial difficulties and must find a source of income. The story is set in the 1960's and includes such historical references as the advent of Color TV, John F. Kennedy and the space race.

Arnaz most recently appeared on Broadway as Berthe in the Tony Award winning revival of Pippin. She also starred in "They're Playing Our Song," "My One and Only". Explains the actress, "It's my year to be brave. I've been hanging upside down from a trapeze all year in 'Pippin' and now I'll direct a Broadway show."

She went on to explain her choice of Blackhurst for the lead role in her newest project. "They [the producers] were going through the usual list of big-name Broadway people - you need a big name to attract producers today - but I suggested Klea to record the demo because I knew she would knock it out of the park."

Despite the difficulties in staging a Broadway production successfully, Arnaz insists she is ready to take on the challenge. "I've worked with the best people ever - Tommy Tune, Michael Bennett, Robert Moore and Diane Paulus. And I've worked with some lousy directors. So I know the difference."

She also looks to her famous parents as a source of inspiration. "My father was diplomatic," she says. "He'd put his Cuban arm around the writers and say, 'This is a great script. Very funny. There are just a couple of little things.' An hour later, the writers would have re-written the whole thing. My mother was more direct, But she came from film and theater, so there was none of that over-the-top sitcom acting. The secret to shows like 'I Love Lucy' was to take an OUTRAGEOUS situation and play it for real. Life can go awry, but you have to be serious about setting it right."

HAZEL starred Shirley Booth in the title role of Hazel Burke. The cast included Don DeFore, Whitney Blake and Bobby Buntrock. The five-season, 154-episode series aired in primetime from September 28, 1961-April 11, 1966. The show aired on NBC for its first four seasons (in black-and-white for all but one episode of the first season and in color for the next three) and then in full-time color on CBS for its final season. The series was based on the popular single-panel comic strip by cartoonist Ted Key, which appeared in the Saturday Evening Post.

Check out clips from the series below:

Watch the series opening credits:

Source

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article HAZEL: (NOTE: Slight modifications have been made to the original work)