In April 2008 it was announced that Houdini would be returning to the stage — in a Broadway musical, no less — set to open in the spring of 2010.

Producers Scott Sanders and David Rockwell had yet to cast “Houdini”, featuring music by Danny Elfman, best known for the quirky scores in most of Tim Burton’s films and the theme to TV’s “The Simpsons”, as well as the Oscar-winning music for “Good Will Hunting” and “Men in Black”. The lyrics are to come from David Yazbek, who wrote the scrore for the Broadway musicals “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels” and “The Full Monty”.

The script is by Kurt Andersen, co-founder of Spy magazine and former editor-in-chief of New York magazine, and lined up to direct is Jack O’Brien, a Tony winner for “Hairspray”.