Paice's casting as the steely Southern belle in the Trevor Nunn-directed production inspired by Margaret Mitchell's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel had been previously announced. Paice's replacement in Curtains at Broadway's Al Hirschfeld has not yet been announced.
In Curtains, Paice plays ingénue Niki Harris, who is smitten with — and under investigation by — Hyde Pierce's detective character. The musical comedy whodunnit concerns the murder of a trouper in a Broadway-bound musical.
Paice played Laura Fairlie in the London world premiere of The Woman in White (directed by Nunn) and re-created the role on Broadway. She created the role of Niki in Curtains at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles, where the show played a pre-Broadway engagement in summer 2006 before opening in New York March 2007. Her other credits include Mamma Mia! in Las Vegas (Sophie), the national tour of Les Misérables, The Gig (Lucy, original cast recording) and Weird Romance (York Theatre).
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The world premiere of Gone With the Wind will open in the West End at the New London Theatre on April 22, following previews that begin April 2. Music and lyrics for Gone With the Wind are by sociologist-turned-composer Margaret Martin. The show has been in development for three years with Nunn, Martin and producer Aldo Scrofani of Columbia Artists, who has teamed up with London producer Colin Ingram for the West End premiere.
Curtains by John Kander, Fred Ebb, Rupert Holmes and Peter Stone stars 2007 Tony Award winner and four-time Emmy Award winner Hyde Pierce as Lt. Frank Cioffi and Tony and Emmy Award winner Debra Monk as producer Carmen Bernstein. The production also stars Tony Award winner Karen Ziemba as lyricist Georgia Hendricks, Jason Danieley as composer Aaron Fox, Jill Paice as ingénue Niki Harris and Edward Hibbert as director Christopher Belling, with John Bolton as theatre critic Daryl Grady, Michael X. Martin as stage manager Johnny Harmon, Michael McCormick as investor Oscar Shapiro, Noah Racey as choreographer Bobby Pepper and Megan Sikora as understudy Bambi Bernét and Gerry Vichi as Sid Bernstein.
The show "unfolds backstage at Boston’s Colonial Theatre in 1959, where a new musical could be a Broadway smash, were it not for its talent-free leading lady. When the star dies on opening night, Lt. Frank Cioffi arrives to conduct an investigation. But the lure of the theatre proves irresistible and after an unexpected romance blooms for the stage-struck detective, he finds himself just as drawn toward making the show a hit, as he is in solving the murder."
Performance schedule for Curtains is Tuesday at 7 PM, Wednesday through Saturday at 8 PM, with matinees Wednesday and Saturday at 2 PM and Sunday at 3 PM. Tickets are on sale at Telecharge at (212) 239-6200.
Visit www.curtainsthemusical.com.
