Tony Award-winning musical An American In Paris will leap gracefully across the Atlantic next year when it transfers to London’s Dominion Theatre from March 2017.
The hit show, inspired by the Oscar-winning film and filled with the Gershwins’ timeless songs, runs at the former home of We Will Rock You from 4 March.
With the dance-filled show directed and choreographed by Christopher Wheeldon comes its two Tony nominated leads, Robert Fairchild and Leanna Cope.
Fairchild, a New York City Ballet principal dancer, will reprise his performance as Jerry Mulligan, an American GI struggling to make it as a painter in the French capital, a city brimming with possibilities. The Royal Ballet’s Cope plays Lise, the beautiful dancer who Mulligan bumps into, sparking a modern romance of art, friendship and post-war love.
When the production opened on Broadway, the New York Times described it as “a perfect integration of dance, romance and classic Gershwin”. The show, which features songs including I Got Rhythm and They Can’t Take That Away From Me, went on to win four Tony Awards.
Full casting for An American In Paris is yet to be announced.
The Broadway triumph follows a hit of the West End’s own making into the Dominion Theatre. The musical adaptation of hit film The Bodyguard returns to the London stage in July with leading lady Beverley Knight reprising her performance as global superstar Rachel Marron. The Whitney Houston musical runs until 7 January 2017.