The classic American frontier-life stories of Laura Ingalls Wilder will be adapted for the stage, with a musical version of Little House on the Prairie slated to debut in Minneapolis next summer.
The Guthrie Theater announced the new musical based on Ingalls Wilder's bestselling children's books on Monday. It is to be helmed by Francesca Zambello, who has directed productions at New York's Metropolitan Opera and London's Royal Opera as well as the new musical version of Disney's The Little Mermaid playing in previews on Broadway.
"Obviously we're hoping that if it's a success, it will have a future life," Guthrie director Joe Dowling said.
"We're looking at, in conjunction with our national partners, a national tour."
The musical will focus on "the independent spirit of the teenager, Laura Ingalls Wilder, and her struggles to become an adult alongside the story of the land as it becomes the American West," Zambello said in a statement.
The creative team will include Tony Award-winning writer Rachel Sheinkin, who will write the book of the musical, Oscar-winning composer Rachel Portman and lyricist Donna DiNovelli.
The producers have not yet made any casting announcements. However, a workshop of the production in Manhattan in April featured actress Melissa Gilbert — who portrayed Laura in the long-running Little House on the Prairie TV series — in the role of Ma Ingalls, while actor Patrick Swayze performed the role of Pa Ingalls.
In her Little House on the Prairie book series, Ingalls Wilder recounted stories of her family and friends living in Wisconsin, Kansas, Minnesota and South Dakota in the 1870s and 1880s.
The popular television series, which was loosely based on the books, followed the Ingalls family as they lived in Minnesota and, over nine seasons, detailed Laura's life as she matured from a young girl into a teacher and mother.
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