Rialto Roundup

On the Broadway burner: A stage version of "Summer Stock," the 1950 MGM musical which starred Judy Garland and Gene Kelly. This was Garland's last complete film on her MGM contract. It's best remembered for her iconic performance of the number "Get Happy" which was filmed several months after the picture was completed and producers needed a snappy, jazzy finish. The new show will feature four numbers from the film including "Get Happy," and new songs by Thomas Tierney and Jeffrey Haddow. An industry-invited presentation will be held next week (Aug. 6 and 7) at the News 42nd Street Studios.

Yesterday July 30, another industry-only reading was held. This one was for "Havana," a new musical with book by Pulitzer Prize winner Nilo Cruz, music by Frank Wildhorn and lyrics by Jack Murphy, Wildhorn's collaborator on "The Civil War." The show, not related to the movie of the same name, takes place in 1959 just before the fall of Cuba to Castro. Producers are aiming for a 2010-11 Broadway opening after a regional premiere in June 2010 (probably at the Pasadena Playhouse).

According to the New York Post, there was yet another private workshop earlier this week. "The Scottsboro Boys" is based on a script by the late lyricist Fred Ebb, with additional lyrics by his partner the composer John Kander. Susan Stroman directed and choreographed this stark story of a civil rights trial in the 1930s as a minstrel show. Michael Reidel reports there will possibly be a production next spring at the Vineyard Theatre and then a Broadway production in the fall of 2010.

--David Sheward