The Little Prince and the Aviator
The Little Prince and the Aviator is a musical with a book by Hugh Wheeler, lyrics by Don Black, and music by John Barry. 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. Late in rehearsals, Robert Kalfin was replaced as director by Jerry Adler and Billy  Wilson replaced original choreographer Dania Krupska. 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. The show closed after twenty previews. Producer 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, representing two-thirds of his investment.