A musical adaptation of the French film “Amelie” will hit Broadway in April, 2017 with “Hamilton’s” Phillipa Soo in the lead role, Variety reports.
The musical will open at the Walter Kerr Theater and tell the film’s story of Amelie, originally played by Audrey Tatou, a shy waitress who tries to change the lives of those around her. The film’s whimsical, quirky sensibility is still one of its much-beloved aspects, so it will be interesting to see how a Broadway show transfers that to the stage and adds musical numbers.
Soo played Eliza Hamilton in the Tony-winning, in-demand production. She was nominated for a Tony Award for her performance as well. Soo has a voice role in the upcoming Polynesian princess Disney film “Moana,” which hits theaters November 23.
The Broadway production of “Amelie” boasts a female director in Pam MacKinnon, who directed the 2013 revival of “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” for which she won the Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play.
The rest of the show’s team includes Sam Pinkelton choreographing, with book by Craig Lucas, music by Daniel Messe of the band Hem, and lyrics by Nathan Tysen (“Tuck Everlasting”) and Messe.
“Amelie” will begin previews March 9, 2017 ahead of an April 3 opening at the Kerr.
