Urban Cowboy is set to hit the Broadway stage with previews starting Feb. 27. Opening night is set for March 27 at the Broadhurst Theatre.

Lonny Price (A Class Act) directs with choreography by Melinda Roy. Aaron Latham, who co-wrote the original screenplay, shares credit for the book of Urban Cowboy with the late Phillip Oesterman. Chase Mishkin and Leonard Soloway produce.

The new musical features an eclectic collection of old and new music. Popular country music by Shania Twain, Clint Black and the Dixie Chicks, will be interpolated among songs from the movie as well as original works by Jeff Blumenkrantz, Bob Stillman and the production's musical director-conductor Jason Robert Brown (The Last Five Years.)

The show stars newcomer Matt Cavenaugh as Bud, who gets seduced by the habitués in and around a honky-tonk Texas bar, where a mechanical bull is the center of attention. Jenn Colella is Sissy, his love interest. The cast also features Leo Burmester, Marcus Chait, Sally Mayes, Rozz Morehead and Jodi Stevens along with Michael Balderrama, Mark Bove, Gerrard Carter, Nicole Foret, Justin Greer, Sarah Jayne Jensen, Michelle Kittrell, Brian Letendre, Barrett Martin, Kimberly Dawn Neumann, Tera-Lee Pollin, Chad L. Schiro, Kelleia Sheerin and Paula Wise.

The Florida tryout of the Broadway-bound Urban Cowboy, the musical based on the film of the same name, ended its nearly sold-out run at Coconut Grove Playhouse Dec. 1. Seats for the show's final week were a top commodity at the Miami venue, a Coconut Grove spokesperson said. Good reviews followed the Nov. 16 opening. The show has been in development for several years and has gone through many rewrites and reconsiderations in that time. In the last year, Jason Robert Brown was brought aboard to contribute three new songs and was signed as musical director and arranger. Earlier this year, when co-librettist and director Phillip Oesterman died unexpectedly, Price was brought in to direct.

"We have had a great reception down there," Mishkin said of the Florida run. "Obviously a lot of work has been done since a year ago. The show is well set. We're going to do some tightening and trimming and work more with the actors." Capitalization for Urban Cowboy is $4.5 million, Mishkin confirmed.

*

Urban Cowboy opened at the Coconut Grove Playhouse on Nov. 16, after previews from Nov. 7. The musical was to have begun on Nov. 5, but was delayed so difficulties with the set could be worked out. Performances continue to Dec. 1.

"The story takes place in Gilley's bar, the evening watering hole of the newly prosperous rig workers during the oil boom of the '70s," according to production notes. "It's a place rife with lots of laughs, personal drama and sexual tension — and as the song depicts — it's the place where everyone goes 'Lookin' For Love.'"

Songs in the show include "Could I Have This Dance," "Orange Blossom Express" and "The Devil Went Down to Georgia." The original soundtrack went triple platinum.

Tickets can be purchased by calling (212) 239-6200 or online at www.telecharge.com.