Haynes directed and wrote the screenplay for "Far From Heaven" and received a Best Original Screenplay Oscar nomination for his work. A cinematic tribute to the films of Douglas Sirk, "Far From Heaven" is now taking on new life as a stage musical by Tony Award-nominated Grey Gardens and Finding Neverland songwriters Scott Frankel (music) and Michael Korie (lyrics) with a book by Tony Award winner Richard Greenberg (Take Me Out). 

Haynes will discuss the film as part of a free 6:45 PM discussion on the lawn of the '62 Center for Theatre and Dance. Far From Heaven the musical begins at 7:30 PM.

Tony nominee Michael Greif (Grey Gardens, Rent, Next to Normal) directs the production that will run through July 29. Following the Williamstown preview production, Far From Heaven will be presented Off-Broadway at Playwrights Horizons in spring 2013. Kelli O'Hara will also star in Manhattan. She is currently taking a break from Broadway's Nice Work If You Can Get It to work on Far From Heaven. She returns to Nice Work on July 31.

O'Hara (The Light in the Piazza, South Pacific, Nice Work...) stars as Cathy Whitaker, who has her world shattered through a series of revelations and emotional encounters. Steven Pasquale (Reasons to Be Pretty, "Rescue Me") portrays her husband, Frank.

Here's how the musical is billed: "Cathy Whitaker seems to be the picture-perfect wife and mother in 1957 suburban Connecticut. But roiling beneath the surface, secret longings and forbidden desires cause her world to unravel — with incendiary consequences. With a lush score that is both jazz-inflected and hauntingly lyrical, Far From Heaven is a powerful story of romance, betrayal, intolerance and a woman grappling with her identity in a society on the verge of great upheaval." Visit WilliamstownTheatreFestival.