Tommy Tune to Direct and Star in the National Tour of Dr. Dolittle

Tommy Tune will direct and star in the national tour of Dr. Dolittle. The retooled production will begin performances on January 17, 2006 at the Hobby Center in Houston, Texas.

The American tour of Dr. Dolittle--Leslie Bricusse's stage musical based on his 1967 Oscar-winning movie of the same name and The Doctor Dolittle Stories by Hugh Lofting--launched at the Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera in August with Glenn Casale directing and Tom Hewitt starring as the doctor who talks to animals. After poor reviews, the tour shut down in Hershey, Pennsylvania on October 2.

Tune has won Tonys for acting Seesaw, My One and Only, choreography A Day in Hollywood/A Night in the Ukraine, My One and Only, Grand Hotel and The Will Rogers Follies and directing Nine, Grand Hotel, The Will Rogers Follies. He last appeared onstage in his own show, Tommy Tune: White Tie and Tails, which toured the country and played at off-Broadway's Little Shubert Theatre.

No announcement has been made regarding whether any of the other former Dr. Dolittle cast members--including Nancy Anderson, Tony Yazbeck and Eric Michael Gillett--will remain with the production. Additional casting and dates will be announced at a future time.