To purchase the DVD of the original LEAP OF FAITH film, click on the image above.

Leap of Faith, the new musical by Alan Menken, Glenn Slater and Janus Cercone, will have its world premiere in Los Angeles later this year. Directed by Rob Ashford (who directed Broadway’s Promises, Promises and is already set for a revival of How to Succeed in Business Without Really trying in 2011), the show will open on 26 September at the Ahmanson Theatre after a three week preview period.

The show deals with the antics of part-time reverend and full-time con artist, the Reverend Jonas Nightengale, who stops in a small Kansas town with his traveling ministry to stage a revival that is bent on separating the townspeople from their money. While he is opposed by the town’s sheriff, it is a pretty waitress and her son, whose love for Nightengale forces this cynic of cynics to take a real leap of faith. Cercone, who penned the screenplay for the film upon which the musical is based, has written the book in collaboration with Slater.

Hopes for a new score from Menken are high as always, but let’s hope that Slater manages to do a better job that he has done on Love Never Dies. Ashford’s prolificacy is, as always, astounding.