Anthony Warlow will head the cast of the new musical, which was penned by Lucy Simon (music), Michael Korie and Amy Powers (lyrics) and Michael Weller (book).
John Frost, who is producing with Anita Waxman, said in a statement, "I'm honoured to bring this timeless story to the stage, and especially thrilled that the World Premiere will be held in Sydney, with the assistance of Events NSW and Tourism NSW. It is wonderful to be working again with composer Lucy Simon – our production of her musical The Secret Garden is still much remembered – and for the first time with legendary Broadway director Des McAnuff. And it's also thrilling to work again with Anthony Warlow, one of the preeminent musical theatre performers in the world."
About the show's leading man, composer Simon said, "Anthony commands a stage, a rare leading man – he gets behind the character and with that unique voice enriches the story being told. I knew in my heart that here was the man to tell this love story."
"Reflecting his private struggle the story swirls around our hero in a panoramic portrait of a nation in upheaval, telling a story at once epic and personal, funny and heartbreaking, impetuously romantic and bitingly political," according to press notes for the new musical. "We move breathlessly through the final glory days of Czarist Russia and into the chaos and upheaval of the Russian Revolution where a new and unprecedented tyranny makes every day a test of the human spirit.
"Through these volcanic upheavals, three passionate men — the ardent young Doctor Zhivago, the fiery political radical Pasha Antipov, and the cynical bourgeois magistrate Viktor Komarovsky—compete for the love of one woman, the alluring and enigmatic Lara, as if vying for the very soul of Russia itself."
The production will feature musical supervision by Eric Stern, choreography by Kelly Devine, musical direction by Kellie Dickerson, set design by Michael Scott-Mitchell, lighting design by Damien Cooper and costume design by Tess Schofield.
Tickets for the initial eight-week run will go on sale July 26 via ticketmaster.com.au.
For more information visit drzhivago.com.au.
