New Musical about a Ponzi Scheme in the Works

Before Bernard Madoff made headlines, producer Jean Doumanian already had her eye on a musical about a pyramid scheme. According to Variety, Doumanian and Michael Shulman and Craig Saavedra of Starry Night Entertainment have been working since 2008 to develop a tuner based on Ponzi’s Scheme: The True Story of a Financial Legend, a book by Mitchell Zuckoff.

Written in 2005, the book chronicles the life of Charles Ponzi, the Boston banker who cheated investors out of millions of dollars in the 1920s by guaranteeing a huge rate of return. As Madoff is alleged to have done, Ponzi used money from new investors to pay dividends, until his entire scheme fell apart.

Doumanian and Starry Night have acquired both stage and film rights to Zuckoff's book and will pursue a musical adaptation first. No members of the creative team have been announced. Doumanian is producing the forthcoming off-Broadway revival of Our Town, directed by and starring David Cromer, which begins previews at the Barrow Street Theatre on February 17.