Director-choreographer Susan Stroman will workshop Therese Raquin, the new musical by jazz pianist and crooner Harry Connick, Jr., at Lincoln Center Theatre on Sept. 18. LCT helped foster Stroman's last project, Contact, which went on to win the best musical Tony and is still playing at the Vivian Beaumont.

"I do think he's the right person to write it," Stroman told Playbill On Line, who first reported on the Connick project on March 27. "I like his new works a lot." The musical is based on the Emile Zola novel, "Therese Raquin." Connick, who has never tried his hand at musical theatre to date, will write the music and lyrics. David Thompson will pen the book.

"Therese Raquin" concerns a woman driven to torrid affairs and murder. Neil Patrick Harris and Daniel G. Pino have been cast, according to Variety. A female lead is yet to be named.

Harry Connick, Jr., the son of a New Orleans jazz family, burst onto the scene in 1989, when his soundtrack to the film "When Harry Met Sally" became a surprise hit. Since then, he's released a variety of jazz and vocal CDs, sometimes as a solo artist, sometimes as part of a combo. Though best known for his covers of standards, he has written a considerable amount of original material.

Connick has also dabbled in acting, appearing in such films as "Memphis Belle," "Copycat" and "Hope Floats." Stroman's other current projects include Mel Brooks' musical, The Producers, and the London revival of Oklahoma!, which was expected this season, but has since been delayed.