Musical of 'King Kong' to roar on Broadway next year

NEW YORK (AP) - A musical version of "King Kong" is hoping to make Broadway go bananas.

Officials at Global Creatures, the Australian company behind the hit arena show "Walking With Dinosaurs," said Wednesday their version of the classic ape story will land at the Broadway Theatre in the fall of 2018. Exact dates and cast will be announced later.

This "King Kong" is written by Jack Thorne, who received the 2017 Olivier Award for Best Play for "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child." The score is composed by Grammy nominee Marius de Vries, whose credits include the films "La La Land" and "Moulin Rouge," with songs by Eddie Perfect.

The show will be directed and choreographed by Drew McOnie.

Producers, who gained the cooperation of the estate of "Kong" creator Merian C. Cooper, say they haven't used recent "Kong" films as a reference, preferring instead to return to the Depression-era story that first appeared as a novella.

The show has gone through many changes since it had a workshop in 2010 with a 23-foot mechanical Kong. Back then, Daniel Kramer was originally announced as the director and Craig Lucas was hired to write the story. Following a run in Melbourne, Australia, the show had planned to open on Broadway in 2014 but delayed to "implement creative changes."

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Mark Kennedy is at http://twitter.com/KennedyTwits