‘Gigi’ Returns to Broadway During 2013-14 Season

A new revival of “Gigi” is heading to Broadway.

Producer Jenna Segal announced the plans for a return to Broadway for the classic story, saying that the the run might occur as soon as the 2013-2014 season. She also announced that a developmental reading of the new version is set to take place in New York City later this month.

The new adaptation is written by Emmy-nominee Heidi Thomas, known for her work on “Upstairs Downtown,” “Call the Midwife” and “Cranford.” Tony Award-nominee Eric D. Schaeffer will direct. Schaeffer also is scheduled to direct “Kander and Ebb’s Sing Happy” revue on Broadway during the upcoming season.

“Heidi Thomas has restored ‘Gigi’ to her rightful place at the centre of the story, backed by a funny, warm family of women that show the men in the world around them the finer meaning of life and love,” commented Segal in the statement. “This is ‘chic lit’ musical theatre!”

The musical version is adapted from the Academy Award-winning 1958 musical film of the same name, which won the Oscar for Best Picture. The movie is based on characters from the 1944 novella by French writer Colette. The Broadway premiere of the musical came in 1973, and though it won the Tony Award for Best Score, closed after only 103 performances. A West End version was staged in 1985 and ran for seven months.

“Set in the magical world of La Belle Époque in turn-of-the-century Paris, ‘Gigi’ is a timeless romantic comedy about a young woman groomed in the custom of her family to be a companion to a bored, wealthy playboy, until the two unexpectedly realize this is in fact true love,” said Segal in the statement.

“It’s a touching, funny, captivating story of love and all the trials that go with it,” Thomas adds. “Set in the most beautiful era in the history of the world’s most romantic city, the messages in ‘Gigi’ endure — ‘Know your own worth. Write your own rules. And when you find love, never let it go.”