Producer Alan Lichtenstein told Playbill On-Line "with the myriad of shows on the road there just wasn't enough interest" to merit the planned 40 weeks. About 22 weeks were lined up before the producers decided to discontinue plans. International actor Topol, known for playing Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof on stage and screen, would have headlined as the lusty Greek who teaches a young man to be more hedonistic.
The Crete-set musical by composer John Kander, lyricist Fred Ebb and librettist Joseph Stein is based on the Nikos Kazantzakis novel, "Zorba the Greek" (also known as a 1965 film starring Anthony Quinn and Alan Bates).
The bull-like Quinn starred in a revised 1983 revival of the zesty 1968 musical. Herschel Bernardi originated the role on stage.
Sammy Dallas Bayes was to have helmed.
