Exactly Like You, Cy Coleman's first musical since The Life and the latest in a long eclectic line that includes Sweet Charity, Barnum and The Will Rogers Follies, will have its world premiere May 7-31 at Goodspeed Opera House's Norma Terris Theatre in Chester, CT.

The production is directed and choreographed by Patricia Birch, who choreographed the original Grease, A Little Night Music and Pacific Overtures. Featured in the cast are Barbara Walsh ( Big and Falsettos) and Michael McGrath (Forbidden Broadway, Swinging on a Star and The Coconuts).

Exactly Like You, which Coleman described as "a courtroom drama, but very funny," will have lyrics by Coleman and A.E. Hotchner, his collaborator on the short-run 1988 musical Welcome to the Club, which dealt with another part of the legal system, an alimony jail. Coleman told Playbill On-Line that the two musicals are closely related, dealing the many of the same issues, having some of the same characters (including country singer Winona Shook) and rescuing some of the earlier show's songs, including the ballad "At My Side."

Here's how Goodspeed describes the plot:
On trial for locking his mother-in-law in the bathroom, Kevin Bursteter (Edward Staudenmayer) realizes the honeymoon is over when his wife, Eve (Katharine Leonard), testifies against him. Meanwhile Kevin's lawyer, Martin Murphy (Michael McGrath), tries to reconcile with his wife, Arlene (Barbara Walsh), who's prosecuting the case. And in the jury box, Aaron Bates (Robert Bartley) finds opposites attract after fellow juror Winona Shook, a bawdy country singer (Blair Ross), knocks him unconscious on the courthouse steps.

Also in the cast: Frank Gravis, Tony Hastings, Doug Katsaros, Donna Kelly, Donya Lan, Susan Mansur. Hotchner, who has written books about Ernest Hemingway, Doris Day and Sophia Loren, is partners with Paul Newman in the "Newman's Own" line of food products whose proceeds go to charity. Hotchner and Newman launched a line of ice cream April 14.

The set designer for Exactly Like You is James Morgan, with costumes by Richard Schurkamp and lighting by Kirk Bookman. Doug Katsaros is musical director.

For tickets to Exactly Like You, call (860) 873-8668.

Here is a list of the musical numbers, as of May 7. Since the production is a workshop, the list is highly subject to change:

ACT ONE
"A Man of the People" - All
"The Trouble with You" - Arlene & Martin Murphy
"Southern Comfort" - Winona, Bates, Ensemble
"Thanks to Mum" - Eve, Ensemble
"Why Did You Have to Be a Lawyer" - Arlene & Martin Murphy
"I Get Tired" - Lamarr, Winona
"That's a Woman" - Bates
"Cottage by the Sea" - Kevin
"In the Name of Love" - Arlene & Martin Murphy
"I Forgive Him" - Priscilla
"Mother-in-law" - Ensemble

ACT TWO
"Good Day, Good Day" - TV Commentator
"She Makes Me Laugh" - Bates
"Rio" - Kevin, Martin, Ensemble
"At My Side" - Kevin, Eve
"No Further Questions, Please" - Arlene
"You're Good for Me" - Judge, Priscilla
"Guilty" - Winona
"Ain't He Cute" - Arlene & Martin Murphy
"It Wouldn't Be You" - All

Coleman, whose The Life won two Tony Awards in 1997 and was nominated for a 1998 Grammy Award, told Playbill On-Line that he's working on several projects simultaneously.

A Star Is Born, which began as an Andrew Lloyd Webber-produced London show, and also appeared for a time on the Livent Ltd. slate, is now being developed by Coleman with an independent producer. Lyrics for the show are being written by David Zippel, who did Coleman's Tony-winning City of Angels and the Disney film Hercules. As in all previous incarnations of the musical, Larry Gelbart (City of Angels, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum) is writing the book. The musical is based on the oft-filmed story of a couple whose love is strained when one partner's career rises while the other one's falls.

But that's not all. Coleman is continuing to work with Barbara Fried and Bruce Villanch on 13 Days to Broadway, based on Russell Baker's diary of their musical Home Again, Home Again, which closed out of town. Coleman said, "It's about a show in trouble on the road, and what happens to the people involve. Everybody starts off loving each other, and winds up not speaking to each other. It's a very funny, bittersweet comedy, like a Marx Brothers movie."

-- By Robert Viagas