By Andrew Gans
01 Feb 2007

B.H. Barry will direct Barry and Vernon Morris' Treasure Island — based on the Robert Louis Stevenson classic — on Broadway this summer.

Variety reports that the $3.5 million action-oriented show hopes to capitalize on the upcoming "Pirates of the Caribbean 3," which will arrive in movie theatres in May. Treasure Island will tell the story of the adventures of young Jim Hawkins "as much through action sequences as through dialogue."

Director Barry — whose fight direction/fight staging credits include Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Sly Fox and Kiss Me, Kate — told Variety, "I've always wanted to do an action play. I realized it was something missing on Broadway. . . All the fights really further the story and develop the characters."

Producer Jonathan D. Moll added, "We're going to create for the Broadway stage the theatrical equivalent of a white-knuckle thrill-ride."

Barry's Island made its premiere at Gotham's Ohio Theater in 1996 and was subsequently seen on Sanibel Island, FL. The Broadway production will feature designs by Tony Straiges. The set, Variety says, will consist "mainly of four rolling, interlocking platforms, accessorized with maritime elements such as barrels and ropes."

The cast of 14 — which has yet to be announced — will also perform traditional sea chanties.

A version of Treasure Island — penned by Jules Eckert Goodman — was previously seen on Broadway at the Punch and Judy Theatre in 1915. Charles Hopkins and Edward Emery directed.