Previews start Dec. 27 for a run to open Jan. 3, 2008. It plays to March 2.

Based on the 1977 film of the same name, The Goodbye Girl has a book by Neil Simon, music by Marvin Hamlisch (A Chorus Line) and lyrics by David Zippel (City of Angels).

Drury Lane producer Gary Griffin directed Broadway's The Color Purple and is a directing giant in the Windy City. He's freelanced at many theatres there and is associate artistic director at Chicago Shakespeare. He's attached to the Broadway-aimed musical, Dancing in the Dark.

Award-winning scenic designer Brian Sydney Bembridge will design the Goodbye Girl set.

According to Drury Lane, "This musical turns the film comedy into an adventure about love and commitment. Single mother Paula (Susan Moniz) has to share her absent boyfriend's New York apartment with Elliot (Bernie Yvon), an egotistical and opinionated struggling actor. They fall in love, which alarms her 12-year-old daughter, Lucy, who is scared that Elliot, like all of Paula's boyfriends, will dump her mother — causing yet another example of 'The Goodbye Girl' syndrome." The film starred Marsha Mason and Richard Dreyfuss. The 1993 Broadway musical starred Bernadette Peters and Martin Short and produced a cast album.

For more information about the resident Chicago-area production, visit www.drurylaneoakbrook.com.