Finding Neverland, Along With Mandy Patinkin & Taylor Mac in Vaudeville, to Headline A.R.T. 2014-15 Season

Peter’s back! According to The New York Times, a revamped version of Finding Neverland will kick off the 2014-15 season at the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge this July, with its sights set on Broadway and the West End. The season will also feature Mandy Patinkin and Taylor Mac in The Last Two People on Earth: An Apocalyptic Vaudeville, a new play by Eve Ensler, a new opera and an encore of The Light Princess.

As previously reported, an industry-only workshop of Finding Neverland took place this month with a cast that included Main Stem vets Matthew Morrison and Laura Michelle Kelly. A spokesman for A.R.T. said that Morrison will not take part in the Cambridge production because of his Glee commitments and that no other casting news was available. Finding Neverland has had a troubled history. The Harvey Weinstein produced tuner overhauled its entire creative team in 2013, bringing on board A.R.T artistic director Diane Paulus, composer Gary Barlow and playwright James Graham. It made its world premiere at Leicester's Curve Theatre in September 2012 after canceling its fall 2011 debut at La Jolla Playhouse.

Tony winner Patinkin and Mac will bring The Last Two People on Earth: An Apocalyptic Vaudeville, which was seen off-Broadway last year, to the venue in May 2015. Directed and choreographed by five-time Tony winner Susan Stroman, this abstract two-man show follows the story of a flood of biblical proportions that leaves us with only two people on Earth (Patinkin and Mac).

This November, O.P.C., a new play by Ensler (The Vagina Monologues) will begin performances. O.P.C. stands for obsessive political correctness and follows the story of a liberal mom running for office and her daughter, a left-wing radical.

Other shows on the season’s slate include an encore of The Light Princess over the holidays, a new play in February 2015, details of which will be announced in due course, and a new Civil War based opera, helmed by Paulus, beginning in May 2015, inspired by a diary kept by Walt Whitman.