Andrew Lippa, composer of the Manhattan Theatre Club musical The Wild Party (which many found superior to the troubled Broadway version of the same material that same year) is on to his next project: a musical adaptation of Frances Hodgson Burnett's The Little Princess. Lippa is collaborating with librettist-lyricist Brian Crawley (Violet) on the piece, which will debut in Sydney in November 2002 and then travel to Melbourne and Brisbane.

In Lippa's online newsletter, the composer mentions that the first act of Little Princess will have a reading in Australia this August. The composer wrote to Playbill On-Line to confirm that Susan H. Schulman will direct the show (a logical move, since she's slated to direct a down-under revival of Man of La Mancha). Heidi Ettinger, a Tony nominee for her Adventures of Tom Sawyer set design, will design Princess.

Lippa's other credits include the Off-Broadway tuner john & jen and adding songs to the last Broadway revival of You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown. He's also been writing songs for an upcoming TV version of The Wiz.

"The Little Princess," by the author of "The Secret Garden," tells of a fanciful little girl coming up against real-world spite and treachery. The material became a Shirley Temple film vehicle in 1939 and was updated for a 1995 remake.

— By David Lefkowitz