The Roundabout Theatre Company has cast The Look of Love at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre. The new revue of the songs of Burt Bacharach and Hal David will land there April 1. May 4 will be the official opening. June 15 is the final performance.
The cast features Liz Callaway—as previously reported by Playbill On-Line—as well as Kevin Ceballo, Jonathan Dokuchitz, Eugene Fleming, Capathia Jenkins, Jeanine La Manna, Shannon Lewis, Rachelle Rak and Desmond Richardson.
The Look of Love will feature the choreography of Ann Reinking and staging by Scott Ellis. It is conceived by David Thompson, Ellis, David Loud and Reinking. Loud will do the music direction and vocal arrangements.
The team of Bacharach and David flourished in the late '60s and early '70s. Something of a throwback to the Tin Pan Alley tradition, the team, with its smooth, syncopated pop style, was anomalous in an age when heavy metal, British pop and psychedelic rock prevailed on the radio. The revue includes more than 30 Bacharach-David landmark songs such as "The Look of Love," "I Say a Little Prayer," "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head," "I'll Never Fall in Love Again," "Anyone Who Had a Heart," "What's New, Pussycat," "Alfie," "What the World Needs Now," "Close to You," "Wishin' and Hopin'," "Walk on By," "One Less Bell to Answer," "Do You Know the Way To San Jose" and "Promises, Promises." Many of these were first recorded by the team's chief interpreter, Dionne Warwick. Other acts to record their music include Gene Pitney, Tom Jones, The Fifth Dimension, B.J. Thomas and Dusty Springfield.
The show was once called What The World Needs Now. The Roundabout had planned to stage the show several seasons back, after it premiered as a book musical at the Old Globe Theatre in the summer of 1998. However, the nonprofit decided to postpone the project (eventually leaving the door open for Warren Leight's Side Man, which went on to win the Tony Award for Best Play). Gillian Lynne directed and choreographed that version of the show, which had a book by Kenny Solms, based on an idea by Solms and Lynne. The design team includes Derek McLane (Set Design), Martin Pakledinaz (Costume Design), Howell Binkley (Lighting Design), Brian Ronan (Sound Design) and Don Sebesky (Orchestrations). Tickets go on sale in January 2003 and will be available by calling Ticketmaster at (212)307-7171. Ticket prices range from $25 to $85.
