Robert Evan, the afternoon Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde in Broadway's Jekyll & Hyde, will spend Tuesday afternoon, Sept. 23, helping to get a very different musical off the ground. J&H co-star Christiane Noll (Emma) and Kate/Lucy understudy Leah Hocking will join Evan in two readings (11 AM, 1 PM) of The Prince And The Pauper, by Neil Berg and librettists Bernie Garzia and Jonathan Powers (based on the Mark Twain novel) .

Alex Santoriello (Chess) and Danny Zolli (International and National Tour of Jesus Christ Superstar) will also participate in the readings, at 11 AM and 1 PM, at an undisclosed Manhattan location.

James Marino and Leftfield Productions will bring the show to Queens Theatre In The Park, Nov. 28-30. Santoriello will be in the Queens cast, as will Jeri Sager. Auditions are being held Sept. 25-26, for rehearsals to begin Oct. 27. Although two children are central characters, the show is not children's theatre, per se. The plot concerns 12-year-old Edward, prince of England, who trades places with flat-broke Tom Canty. The music uses "the style of contemporary musical theatre."

Director and choreographer Ray Roderick founded the Tri-State Center for the arts and served as its artistic director for seven years. John Glaudini serves as musical director.

A graduate of the BMI Workshop, composer Berg won a Back Stage Bistro cabaret award for his revue, Asylum Of The Night. Author and co-lyricist Garzia's previous musicals include The Super, Fantastic, Magical Adventures of Bob and Guess Who Signed The Constitution. For more information on The Prince And The Pauper, check out the show's website at http://www.prince-and-pauper.com.

The show has already played, in March, at Upstate NY's Irvington Town Hall Theatre but has since gone through rewrites.

Songs in the developing show include Twilight, Rain, Foo Foo The First and Simple Man.

Asked about the future of Prince, assistant producer Caralyn Spector said (Sept. 10) "There'll be further readings in December. Then we'll see what happens."