It's a sad reality that no musical goes from page to stage in a short period of time, anymore. I once worked with a famous Broadway lyricist who lamented to me that 40 years ago, he'd write the show, it would be in rehearsal 6 weeks later, and open 4 weeks after that. The show I worked with him on workshopped back in '99. It still hasn't been staged, and not for lack of effort. Economics have made it a reality that even the most successful composers (from Stephen Sondheim to John Kander & Fred Ebb) have had shows stall before Broadway. As far as MAGI, it's my understanding that Lea Michele (of GLEE) starred in a private reading in Los Angeles last winter; this reading was directed by Casey Nicholaw (of Broadway's THE DROWSY CHAPERONE and the recent MINSKY'S). It's unclear how close to completion the book & score were at that point. I'm sure that Sater, Bacharach & Nicholaw would all like the project to be staged soon, but largely, it will be out of their hands. My fingers remain crossed that, especially with PROMISES' current Broadway success (in defiance of the critics!), an enterprising producer -- most likely via a regional theatre, perhaps in LA -- will pick up MAGI and bring it to fruition. So, to that end, let's just hope that they're still actively writing it, and bringing it to the attention of the right folks. A new Bacharach score would literally be music to our ears.

Joe