The delightful story, based on a tale Colette wrote to lift her readers’ spirits during the German Occupation of Paris; the beautiful Lerner and Loewe songs, the charming and idiosyncratic characters…Yes, the musical “Gigi,” also set in the Belle Epoque world of the writer’s earlier success “Cheri,” has a lot to recommend it. Now it is coming to the Broadway stage again in a lavish, $12 million production at the Neil Simon Theatre starring Vanessa Hudgens in the title role, which is due to open April 8. The last Broadway version of this musical in 1973 was a flop, which is a bit difficult to understand, except possibly that its evanescent charm wasn’t appreciated in such a crass period. But the current production seems to have a better chance. Hudgens is well-cast in the title role, and executes the singing and dancing with panache, while easily carrying off the girlishness that is critical to the beginning of the piece. Costuming such a musical must have been a bit intimidating, especially since Cecil Beaton, the costume designer for the famous 1958 film starring Leslie Caron, Louis Jourdan and Maurice Chevalier, won an Oscar for his efforts, one of nine the production took
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