Bells Are Ringing, With Faith Prince, Eyeing Bway for Fall 2000

During the summer of 1998, actress Faith Prince starred in a Washington, DC, concert version of the 1956 Comden-Green-Styne musical Bells Are Ringing. The production was part of the first season of the Kennedy Center's Encores-like series, "Words & Music." Now it looks like that musical may reach Broadway. In an interview with Playbill On-Line (Sept. 20), Prince said that she was hopeful that a talked-about revival would reach New York in the fall of 2000, possibly with a regional stop beforehand. [See related Playbill On-Line feature.] It could not be learned whether the show would feature the D.C personnel -- including director Tina Landau and choreographer Jeff Calhoun -- or who would back the production. Bells Are Ringing -- which features such songs as "The Party's Over," "Is It a Crime?" and "It's a Simple Little System," and originally starred Judy Holliday -- ran at the Kennedy Center July 16-19, 1998. Starring alongside Prince were Joyce Van Patten (Labor Day) and Alan Campbell (Sunset Boulevard).