STAGE TUBE: KING KONG's Queenie van de Zandt and Richard Piper at Premiere After Party

The new stage musical KING KONG just opened last weekend at the Regent Theatre in Melbourne, Australia. As BroadwayWorld previously reported, the show is already casting its eye towards Broadway, with a hopeful launch as early as 2014. The production, which was originally slated to run through July 28, has just extended through August 18. Click below to watch a video interview with stars Queenie van de Zandt and Richard Piper at the premiere after party!

Composer and arranger Marius de Vries, whose credits include the soundtracks for Moulin Rouge and Romeo + Juliet as well as being the writer/arranger/producer for artists such as Madonna, Bjork and Rufus Wainwright, will create and oversee a musical adventure to match that of the story: from revamped 1930s Broadway classics like 'Get Happy', 'I Wanna Be Loved By You' and 'Brother Can You Spare a Dime', to new and existing songs from some of the world's best contemporary artists, including Robert Del Naja from Massive Attack, Sarah McLachlan, Justice, Guy Garvey from Elbow and The Avalanches. A key collaborator on the musical landscape for the show has been Stephen Pavlovic from Modular People, the Sydney-based music label and promoter, while New York's Michael Mitnick has contributed lyrics to several new compositions.

The principal cast features Esther Hannaford (Hairspray) as Ann Darrow, newcomer Adam Lyon as Carl Denham, Chris Ryan (Thyestes) as Jack Driscoll, veteran stage actor Richard Piper as Captain Engelhorn and the queen of musical theatre and cabaret, Queenie van de Zandt as Cassandra.

One of the world's great modern myths about an enormous creature and his battle for survival in New York City, KING KONG has gone back to the source - the novella of the original film by Merian C. Cooper and Edgar Wallace - in this world-first adaptation as a large-scale musical. Featuring a cast of 49 actors, singers, dancers, circus performers and puppeteers; a crew of 76; and arguably the most technologically advanced puppet in the world - a one-tonne, six-metre giant silverback - KING KONG will be an epic and dazzlingly original theatrical experience.

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