New Musical Vanities Postpones Scheduled Opening

The Broadway debut of new musical Vanities, scheduled to open on February 26, 2009, at the Lyceum Theatre, has delayed its production until later this season. New preview and opening dates, as well as a theater, will be announced soon.

“The production is being rescheduled for later this season out of responsibility to the investors at this complicated economic time, which makes it very hard to support a new musical on Broadway,” lead producer Sue Frost said in a statement about the postponement.

Vanities, a musical adaptation about the interwoven lives of three college friends as they grow up and move on over their twenty year friendship, stars Lauren Kennedy, Sarah Stiles and Anneliese van der Pol. The show, written by David Kirshenbaum, features direction by Judith Ivey and musical staging by Dan Knechtges. The creative team includes scenic designer Anna Louizos In the Heights, White Christmas, costume designer Joe Aulisi Charlie’s Angels, lighting designer Paul Miller Legally Blonde, sound designer Tony Meola Wicked, music director Carmel Dean Spelling Bee and orchestrator Lynne Shankel Cry-Baby.

Vanities was originally produced at TheatreWorks in Palo Alto, CA in the summer of 2006. The critically acclaimed production was awarded two Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle Awards for Outstanding Musical Production and Best Original Score, and was also showcased at the 2006 National Alliance for Musical Theatre NAMT Festival of New Musicals. The musical was recently produced by Pasadena Playhouse Pasadena, California August 22-September 28, 2008. Producers include Junkyard Dog Productions and Bartner/Jenkins Entertainment in association with Demos Bizar Entertainment.