La Jolla Playhouse’s Charlie Chaplin musical is Broadway-bound

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It seems silence is golden these days — at least on stage and screen. The nearly mute “The Artist” is racking up awards and Oscar nods, and now “Becoming Chaplin,” a musical portraying the silent film star, will be transferring to Broadway.

The play, which originated at the La Jolla Playhouse in fall 2010 as “Limelight: The Story of Charlie Chaplin,” is set to land in New York for the 2012-2013 season.

Although casting and an opening date are up in the air, “Chaplin” has backing and a creative team lined up. The show’s producers include the same folks behind the upcoming Broadway production of ‘Jesus Christ Superstar” (which also played in La Jolla).

Warren Carlyle (‘Finian’s Rainbow’) has been tapped to direct and choreograph, with music and lyrics by Christopher Curtis and book by Thomas Meehan and Christopher Curtis.

“Becoming Chaplin,” which recaps the Hollywood star’s successful showbiz history and chaotic personal life, received mixed reviews, although Robert McClure earned accolades for his turn as the mustachioed actor.

Times theater critic Charles McNulty wasn’t a fan of the production, writing: “If ‘Limelight’ honors Chaplin, it does so by reminding us how much more he was able to convey with only a fraction of the panoply.”

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-- Jamie Wetherbe

Casting is yet to be announced; Warren Carlyle (‘Finian’s Rainbow’) has been tapped to direct and choreograph, with music and lyrics by Christopher Curtis and book by Thomas Meehan and Christopher Curtis, will open on Broadway in the 2012-2013 season.