The musical was one of the first collaborations from the songwriting team behind such Broadway musicals as Once on This Island, My Favorite Year and Ragtime. The Emperor's New Clothes takes the classic Hans Christian Andersen story and turns it into a tale of a 14 year-old boy now an emperor. In an attempt to appear more mature to his people, he accepts the credo that "clothes make the man" but soon finds himself the center of a hoax.

The cast includes Joseph Alanes, Carla Jimenez, Nathanael Johnson, Louis Lotorto and Eric Newton. John-David Keller directs the staging with musical direction by Tim Horrigan.

The Emperor's design team features Donna Marquet (sets), Angela Balogh Calin (costumes) and Christina L. Munich (lighting).

The two other productions scheduled for the new SCR series are John Olive's Sideways Stories from Wayside School (Feb. 6-22, 2004), adapted from the Louis Sachar novel, and The Wind in the Willows (June 4-20, 2004) adapted from the Kenneth Grahame tale, by Richard Hellesen and Michael Silversher.

In other Ahrens-Flaherty news, Lincoln Center Theater — which recently produced the duo's A Man of No Importance — will present their new musical Dessa Rose during its 2004-05 season.

Tickets to The Emperor's New Clothes at South Coast Rep, 655 Town Center Drive in Costa Mesa, CA are available by calling (714) 708-5555. For more information, visit SCR's website at www.scr.org.