Lucky Stiff, a musical with book and lyrics by Lynn Ahrens and music by Stephen Flaherty, opens on Nov. 28 and will run throughout the holidays at the Worcester Foothills Theatre in Worcester, MA.

Billed as a "murder-mystery musical farce," Lucky Stiff is based on the Michael Butterworth crime novel The Man Who Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo. The musical was the winner of the 1988 Richard Rodgers Award, which is given to up-and-comers in the industry.

This is proving to be a banner year for Ahrens and Flaherty. They wrote the score for Ragtime, which arrives on Broadway in December (with an official opening night in January) following highly praised productions in Toronto and Los Angeles. They also wrote the music for the just-released animated feature film Anastasia. Their previous collaborations include Broadway's Once on This Island and My Favorite Year.

Lucky Stiff is being directed and choreographed by Dennis Courtney. The cast includes Mark S. Cartier, Celeste McClain, Natalie Brown, Michael Poisson, Cory Scott, Doug Shapiro, Deborah Stein, Monica Tosches, Bruce Ward and Dared Wright.

Lucky Stiff runs Nov. 28-Jan. 4. For tickets, call (508) 754 4018. -- By Rebecca Paller