GIGI, Starring Vanessa Hudgens, Opens Tonight on Broadway

Gigi, Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe's beloved Oscar and Tony Award-winning musical comedy, celebrates its opening tonight, April 8, at the Neil Simon Theatre (250 West 52nd Street).

Gigi stars Vanessa Hudgens, who makes her Broadway debut in the title role, Tony Award-winner Victoria Clark (The Light in the Piazza, Sister Act, Rodgers + Hammerstein's Cinderella) as Mamita, Corey Cott (Newsies) as Gaston Lachaille, three-time Tony Award-nominee Dee Hoty (The Will Rogers Follies, The Best Little Whorehouse Goes Public, Footloose) as Aunt Alicia, two-time Tony Award-nominee Howard McGillin (The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Anything Goes) as Honoré Lachaille and Steffanie Leigh (Mary Poppins) as Liane d'Exelmans.

Gigi, with book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe, features a new book adaptation by Heidi Thomas (BBC/PBS's "Call the Midwife") and is choreographed by Emmy Award-winner Joshua Bergasse (On the Town, "Smash") and directed by Eric Schaeffer (Follies, Million Dollar Quartet).

Gigi began life as a 1944 novella by Colette, and soon became the author's most famous and enduring creation. The material was first adapted for the Broadway stage in 1951 as a straight play by author Anita Loos (Gentlemen Prefer Blondes) and starring an unknown Audrey Hepburn in the title role. In 1956, fresh from the blockbuster Broadway success of My Fair Lady, the writing team of Alan Jay Lerner (lyrics, screenplay) and Frederick Loewe (music) turned next to Gigi, as their first musical written for the screen. The MGM film, produced by the legendary Arthur Freed and directed by Vincente Minnelli, opened to rapturous reviews and went on to become the most successful of all of MGM's Freed Unit musicals. The movie was nominated for nine Academy Awards in 1958, including Best Picture, and won in every category, a record at the time, besting the totals won by such films as Gone with the Wind (1939), From Here to Eternity (1953) and On the Waterfront (1954). Gigi also played a reserved-seat engagement for more than seven months at Broadway's Royale Theatre (now the Jacobs).

Gigi includes such numbers as "Thank Heaven for Little Girls," "I Remember It Well", "The Night They Invented Champagne" and the Oscar-winning title song, "Gigi". Gigi also won the Tony Award for Best Score in 1974, and the new production includes four of the songs that the team of Lerner & Loewe wrote for the stage version, including "Paris is Paris Again," "I Never Want to Go Home Again," "The Contract," and "In this Wide, Wide World".

The production also features Cameron Adams, Kathryn Boswell, Max Clayton, Madeleine Doherty, Ashley Blair Fitzgerald, Hannah Florence, Alison Jantzie, Brian Ogilvie, James Patterson, Justin Prescott, Jeffrey C. Sousa, Manny Stark, Tanairi Sade Vazquez, Richard White, Amos Wolff and Ashley Yeater.

Scenic design is by Tony Award-winner Derek McLane, costume design is by five-time Tony Award- winner Catherine Zuber, lighting design is by four-time Tony Award-winner Natasha Katz and sound design is by Tony Award-nominee Kai Harada. Hair design is by David Brian Brown. Make-up design is by Jon Carter. Musical supervisor is James Moore. Musical director is Greg Jarrett. Orchestrations are by August Eriksmoen. Vocal and incidental music arrangement is by Matt Aument. Dance music arrangements are by Sam Davis. Music coordinator is John Miller. Casting is by Tara Rubin Casting, CSA. Production management is by Juniper Street Productions. Production stage manager is Bonnie Panson. General management is by Foresight Theatrical.

Gigi will be produced on Broadway by Jenna Segal, Segal NYC Productions, Ilya Mikhailovic, Eion and Mia Hu, Martin Markinson, Darren P. Deverna/Jeremiah J. Harris, Merrie L. Davis, Lawrence S. Toppall/Riki Kane Larimer/Pat Flicker Addiss, Marsi and Eric Gardiner, and Maggie Gold Seelig and Jonathan Seelig.

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