CAN-CAN Revival Kicks Off On B'way In 2014
1/17/2013 9:17am
The musical CAN-CAN will return to Broadway in the Spring of 2014. Presented by Jonathan Burrows, nephew of the musical’s original Book Writer Abe Burrows, the new production features a revised book by David Lee and Joel Fields. Mr Lee also directs the production, which features choreography by Patti Colombo and musical direction by Steve Orich. Prior to the Broadway production, a workshop will take place in New York in October 2013.
With a score featuring some of Porter most timeless classics including “I Love Paris,” “C’est Magnifique,” and “It’s All Right With Me,” Can-Can is the story of Pistache, the only café owner in Paris who dares to features the scandalous and illicit Can-Can dance. Will her defiance of the law be end of both her café and her chance for love?
When this new version of Can-Can was first presented at The Pasadena Playhouse in 2007, co-author and director David Lee commented "My mentor and good friend James Burrows is the son of Abe. When I mentioned gingerly to him that I was intrigued with trying to work on his dad's show, he was encouraging. Happily, the Cole Porter estate also gave us permission to try out a new approach. The new book is about 80% percent new – but almost all of Abe's original characters remain. For historical flavor we added a few characters of our own that were actual performers at the Moulin Rouge. Rather than a 'rewriting' of the show, Joel and I like to think of this version as a 're-setting'—as you might a piece of jewelry – polishing up the gems Porter and Burrows left us."