Andrew Lloyd Webber has quashed the breakup rumors and invited Broadway to a ball. Next year’s closure of The Phantom of the Opera was expected to mark the first time since 1979 that Broadway wouldn’t be running a Webber production, but the composer announced today he’ll keep the long-term relationship alive with his next musical, Bad Cinderella. Per the New York Times, the fairy-tale-inspired production will begin performances on February 17, one day before Phantom’s chandelier rises (and falls) for the last time.
Bad Cinderella previously opened in London in 2021 as Cinderella. Linedy Genao, who will star in the New York production in her first Broadway lead role, revealed the production’s new name by spray-painting “bad†onto a poster. Building off of the classic rags-to-riches princess story, Bad Cinderella explores beauty standards in a modernized plot involving a plastic-surgeon godmother and gay characters. Lloyd Webber was booed after he called the West End run a “costly mistake,†though he later apologized and clarified that he meant the pandemic-delayed production had attempted to open too early.
The musical is directed by Laurence Connor and choreographed by JoAnn M. Hunter with a book by Promising Young Woman writer-director Emerald Fennell. According to the Times, Lloyd Webber said in a release that the creative team has been developing “a few new songs†for the Broadway run. A spokesman reportedly added that the show itself has also been redesigned. Bad Cinderella is set to open right after the composer turns 75. Here’s to hoping this birthday present comes at an acceptable cost.