Never Gonna Dance Will Sing and Dance in Japan in 2005

By Kenneth Jones
06 May 2004

Japan, as musicals-hungry a country as the United States, will see a production of the Broadway musical, Never Gonna Dance, which had a brief run on Broadway in 2003-04.

Fueled by a score by Jerome Kern, the musical comedy will play Tokyo and Osaka in spring 2005. The musical will be produced by the Fuji Television Network.

Jerry Mitchell, who has been nominated for the 2004 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Choreography, will re-create his work for the first post-Broadway production.

Never Gonna Dance, with a book by Jeffrey Hatcher, is based on the RKO motion picture, "Swing Time," with a story by Erwin Gelsey. The score pulls from many sources and uses many lyricists Kern worked with, offering up such tunes as "Pick Yourself Up," "The Way You Look Tonight," "The Waltz in Swingtime," "A Fine Romance," "Never Gonna Dance," "I Won't Dance," "I'm Old Fashioned," "Dearly Beloved" and "Who."

Never Gonna Dance was produced on Broadway by Weissberger Theater Group/Jay Harris, Edgar Bronfman Jr., James Walsh, Ted Hartley/RKO Pictures, and Harvey Weinstein.

It starred Noah Racey and Nancy Lemenager. Michael Greif directed.