"It started at the Alley Theatre in Houston in 1988, followed by a regional staging in 1989 at Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, then at Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park in 1994. Then we had two developmental workshops in New York City, staged by Michael Bogdanov [December 1996 and April 1999]."

Those were the words John L. Haber told Playbill On-Line about the evolution of his Lone Star Love or The Merry Wives of Windsor, Texas in Sept. 2000. Since the cancellation of a production that was to run at San Diego's The Globe Theater, the once Broadway-bound show has not been heard from — until now. Lone Star Love arrives at Cleveland's Great Lakes Theatre Festival Oct. 18-Nov. 4 in Ohio.

Lone Star Love, conceived and adapted by Haber, with music and lyrics by Tony winner Jack Herrick (Fool Moon, Kudzu), takes William Shakespeare's Merry Wives of Windsor and sets it in post Civil War Texas. John Falstaff is now an ex Confederate colonel in the production, which has contributions from Bland Simpson, Tommy Thompson and the aforementioned Bogdanov, who is still attached to the project as director.

Continuing the season after Lone Star Love are two more adaptations — Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol adapted by Gerald Freedman (Nov. 28 Dec. 23) and Langston Hughes' works in ...Love, Langston adapted by Loni Berry (Jan. 24-Feb. 10, 2002). Concluding the season will be Eugene O'Neill's A Moon for the Misbegotten (March 14-30) and William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet (May 2-19).

For tickets to Lone Star Love at the Great Lakes Theater Festival, 1501 Euclid Ave. In Cleveland, OH, call (216) 771-3999. For more information on the show and the rest of the season, visit their website at www.greatlakestheater.org. — by Ernio Hernandez