"I'm very happy to get the opportunity to make my first foray into the theater and Broadway," Lee said in a statement released to the press on June 27. "I've never been one to put limits on my art. I was too young to see the play, but I've seen the movie numerous times and Billy Wilder is one of my favorite directors. This production will have a contemporary look, yet still stay true to the period and the original play."
Lee was tapped for the project by producer Michael Abbott, who was the original producer of Stalag 17 when it played off-Broadway before Ferrer came on board. Variety noted that Abbott's last Broadway credit was the Jerome Lawrence-Robert E. Lee play The Incomparable Max, which ran for less than three weeks in 1971.
"Producing Stalag 17 once again on stage, after so many years, is a labor of love for me," Abbott said in a statement. "I feel audiences of all generations will react strongly to the humor, the mystery and the suspense of the show. Its themes of laughter through adversity and the quest for freedom are timeless. And Spike will add an extraordinary new dimension to this relevant new production. The script essentially remains the same, but Spike's magic will bring Stalag 17 into the present."
Co-author Trzcinski has passed away, but Bevan said in a statement, "I am thrilled that you signed Spike Lee as director—a perfect fit for our Stalag 17 property. The unspoken theme of Stalag 17 is that these POWs, the first of many, served at the forefront of saving Western civilization. Bravo, Bravo Spike!"