Kander, whose name is synonymous with his late writing partner, the lyricist Fred Ebb, has aligned with 32-year-old playwright Pierce for the intimate work that will use the same four actors to navigate the story of people confronting what it means to get what they want.

A reading of the first act, entitled Andra, was presented privately at the Vineyard and the two are at work on the remaining two acts, which will be developed in private readings over the next year.

The Vineyard is aiming to present the work as part of its developmental lab in spring 2012. The company first staged Kander and Ebb's The Scottsboro Boys Off-Broadway in spring 2010 prior to its Broadway debut last fall.

"We thought about a piece that would have three stories in it, all of which could be performed by the same four actors and three instrumentalists, and Greg and I started playing the old game ‘What if?’ that Fred and I used to develop plot lines. I sort of assumed I would be writing the lyrics, but it turned out that Greg is a terrific lyricist," Kander told the Times.

Kander and Ebb first collaborated on the song "My Coloring Book" in 1962. Their works also include Flora, The Red Menace, Cabaret, The Happy Time, Zorba, Chicago, The Act, The Rink, Kiss of the Spider Woman, Curtains and The Scottsboro Boys.

Pierce, whose uncle David Hyde Pierce starred in Kander and Ebb's Curtains on Broadway, collaborated on The Wind Up Bird Chronicle as part of the Public Theater's 2010 Under the Radar Festival.