Kelli O'Hara will lead a reading of the previously announced musical adaptation of The Bridges of Madison County on an unspecified date in December, according to The New York Times. Tony-winning director Bartlett Sher, who previously worked with O'Hara on South Pacific and The Light in the Piazza, will oversee the reading. No other casting or plans for a full production of the musical have been announced at this time.
The romantic tuner, based on the 1992 bestselling book by Robert James Waller, features a score by Jason Robert Brown and book by Marsha Norman. Set in 1965, The Bridges of Madison County tells the story of photographer Robert Kincaid and his profound four-day love affair with Iowa farm wife Francesca Johnson. The novel was made into a film in 1995 starring Meryl Streep and Clint Eastwood, who also directed.
O'Hara received Tony nominations for South Pacific, The Pajama Game and The Light in the Piazza. She has also appeared on Broadway in Dracula, Sweet Smell of Success, Follies and Jekyll & Hyde. She will star opposite Matthew Broderick in Nice Work If You Can Get It beginning March 29, 2012, at the Imperial Theatre.
The workshop is being held by producers Jeffrey Richards, Stacey Mindich and Jerry Frankel.