Hal Prince Premieres Paradise Musical at Menier???

Octogenarian Broadway legend Harold Prince is preparing for a return to London’s Theatreland next year to direct the world premiere of a new musical at the 150-seat Menier Chocolate Factory in Southwark. According to Variety, Prince’s production of Paradise Found, based on the 1939 novel The Tale of the 1002nd Night by Austrian author Joseph Roth, will open next May at the Menier, where it will run for seven weeks before transferring to New York.

Set in Vienna during the Austro-Hungarian empire, the story centres on the Shah of Iran who, despite already having 139 wives, falls in love with the empress. The musical has a book by Richard Nelson and lyrics by Ellen Fitzhugh, set to Strauss’ classical music, adapted by Jonathan Tunick.

Prince’s myriad credits include The Phantom of the Opera, Evita, Fiddler on the Roof, Cabaret, Zorba and numerous Sondheim musicals. And’s not the only heavy-hitter on the creative team for this latest project. He’ll co-direct with another Broadway legend, choreographer Susan Stroman, with whom he last worked on a 1994 revival of Show Boat, and he’s tipped John Cullum and Mandy Patinkin to star as the Shah and his advise-doling eunuch.