Queer Film Far From Heaven Being Turned Into Stage Musical

Kelli O’Hara (right), Tony-nominated star of South Pacific, Light in the Piazza and The Pajama Game, is prepping to take the lead in Far From Heaven, a musical adaptation of Todd Haynes’ 2002 film about a 1950s housewife who discovers her husband is gay. The show will premiere this July at the Williamstown Theatre Festival.

The press release describes the show:

“Cathy Whitaker seems to be the picture-perfect wife and mother in 1957 suburban Connecticut. But roiling beneath the surface, secret longings and forbidden desires cause her world to unravel – with incendiary consequences. With a lush score that is both jazz-inflected and hauntingly lyrical, Far From Heaven is a powerful story of romance, betrayal, intolerance and a woman grappling with her identity in a society on the verge of great upheaval.”

While the musical version of Heaven is still in developmental stages, it has has some pretty heavy hitters working on it: Grey Gardens songwriters Scott Frankel and Michael Korie are working on the music, with Take Me Out playwright Richard Greenberg handling the book. Michael Greif (Grey Gardens, Rent, Next to Normal) is directing.

After its run this summer, Far From Heaven heads Off-Broadway for a spring 2013 premiere at Playwrights Horizons.

Photos: Focus Features, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff