Robert Longbottom will direct and choreograph this look at carnival and vaudeville life, which has book and lyrics by Bill Russell and music by Henry Krieger, of Dreamgirls fame. According to Theatrical Index, the main story is inspired by the lives of Daisy and Violet Hilton, Siamese twins. Starring as half of the twins will be Alice Ripley, currently appearing as Bathsheba in King David and best known for playing the ingenue in Broadway's Sunset Boulevard. Emily Skinner, who played Emily in the Madison Square Garden Christmas Carol last year, will play twin number two. Director Longbottom has staged several Radio City Music Hall seasonal Spectaculars.

Produced by Joseph Nederlander, Janice McKenna and Emanuel Azenberg, Sideshow is targeting early fall for Broadway, with rehearsals beginning in July. Ripley, at a King David open rehearsal, told Playbill On-Line no out-of-town production is planned.

Perhaps the oddest part of this story is that, incredibly, Side Show is not the only Siamese twin musical on the horizon. Singapore's Action Theatre is readying its latest spoofy production, Chang & Eng -- The Musical, for the June 1997 Festival of Asian Arts. According to Variety, previous efforts by the company include Corporate Animals and Kara-U-OK?"