| The Little Prince and the Aviator | |
| Music: | John Barry |
| Lyrics: | Don Black |
| Basis: | Novel by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry The Little Prince |
| Productions: | 1981 Broadway never officially opened |
The Little Prince and the Aviator is a musical with a book by Hugh Wheeler, lyrics by Don Black, and music by John Barry.[1]
Based on the classic book by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, the musical deviates from the original in that aviator Toni, whose plane crashes in the Sahara Desert, explicitly is real-life author Saint-Exupéry, and the plot alternates flashbacks to actual events in his life with his interaction with the fictional Little Prince, a refugee from Asteroid B-612.
Undaunted by the critical and commercial failure of the 1974 musical screen adaptation by Lerner and Loewe, A. Joseph Tandet, a co-producer of the movie who owned the rights to the story, proceeded with his plans for a Broadway production. To save money, he decided to forgo an out-of-town tryout.
Previews were originally scheduled to begin on December 31, 1981 at the Alvin Theatre. The first preview was canceled at the last minute, after a change in both director and choreographer late in the rehearsal period; the production actually began previews on January 1, 1982.[1] Late in rehearsals, Robert Kalfin was replaced as director by Jerry Adler and Billy Wilson replaced original choreographer Dania Krupska.[2] The production starred Michael York as the Aviator and Anthony Rapp as the Little Prince, with Ellen Greene in a supporting role and Gordon Greenberg as young Georges.[3] The show closed after twenty previews.[4]
Tandet sued the Nederlander Organization, claiming they had forced him to shut down the production with their demands for more money during its final week. He eventually was awarded $1,000,000,[5] representing two-thirds of his investment.