Kathleen Marshall Withdraws from Gershwin Musical Starring Harry Connick

Director/choreographer Kathleen Marshall and a team of veteran producers have withdrawn from Nice Work if You Can Get It, the Broadway-bound musical starring Harry Connick Jr. and featuring Gershwin songs, according to Variety. Broadway Across America, a road presenter and producing company, will take on the role of lead producer. As of June 2, Connick remained attached to the show.

The shakeup came after disagreements broke out late last week regarding the producers' deals for the show, with official reason for the split given as "irreconciliable differences." Among the producers leaving Nice Work along with Marshall are Neil Simon's longtime producer Emanuel Azenberg Macbeth, Scott Landis, Ira Pittelman and Tom Hulce Spring Awakening, Roy Furman Gypsy, Thurgood, Maberry Theatricals and Ann Marie Wilkins.

Variety reports that Marshall's departure was provoked by the worsening squabbles between producers. She directed and choreographed the current hit Broadway revival of Grease and guided Connick to a Best Actor Tony nomination in The Pajama Game, his 2006 Broadway debut.

Connick is cast as a Prohibition-era playboy in Nice Work If You Can Get It, which features a book by Joe DiPietro and draws on the songbook of George and Ira Gershwin. The new show is said to be related to DiPietro's 2001 regional show They All Laughed, which was inspired by the 1926 Gershwin musical Oh, Kay!

For now, Broadway Across America is saying that Nice Work will still try out in Boston from December 16 to January 11 and open on Broadway next spring.