‘Glee’ star Matthew Morrison heading back to Broadway in ‘Finding Neverland’

By Mark Kennedy, The Associated Press

NEW YORK, N.Y. – Mr. Schue is coming back to Broadway.

Matthew Morrison, who played choir director Will Schuester for six season on “Glee,” will star in “Finding Neverland,” a musical directed by Diane Paulus that explores the Peter Pan book’s back story. Previews begin in March.

Morrison has previously starred on Broadway in “Hairspray,” ”South Pacific” and “The Light in the Piazza,” for which he was nominated for a 2005 Tony Award. He will now play J.M. Barrie, the “Peter Pan” author. More casting will be announced later.

Paulus heads the American Repertory Theater at Harvard University and has won Tony Awards for her revivals of “Hair,” ”The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess” and the circus-themed “Pippin.” The new musical, based on the 2004 whimsical film, broke box office records at Harvard earlier this year. Jeremy Jordan played the Barrie role there.

“Finding Neverland” has a book by British playwright James Graham, whose “This House” premiered at the National Theatre in 2012; and music and lyrics by Gary Barlow of the pop band Take That, and songwriter and producer Eliot Kennedy. Mia Michaels, the “So You Think You Can Dance” judge, will choreograph.

In the film, Kate Winslet plays Sylvia Llewelyn Davies, whose four young sons inspired the Scottish author — played by Johnny Depp — to write the children’s classic “Peter Pan.” The film, which also stars Julie Christie and Dustin Hoffman, tells how Barrie, who had no children of his own, befriended the Davies boys.

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Follow Mark Kennedy on Twitter at http://twitter.com/KennedyTwits

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