The new musical is based on the 1949 British comedy that helped make Sir Alec Guinness a star. The workshop of the musical will feature the talents of Raul Esparza and Rebecca Luker as well as Wonderful Town's Nancy Anderson and Thoroughly Modern Millie's Sean Allan Krill. Kind Hearts and Coronets features music and lyrics by Steven Lutvak and book and lyrics by Robert L. Freedman. Lutvak also adapted A.R. Gurney's The Wayside Inn, and Wayside has been optioned by Mick Leavitt for an Off-Broadway presentation. Freedman's television credits include "Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows," "Cinderella," "What Makes a Family," "A Deadly Secret" and "Campaign of the Century."

Set in 1902 England, Kind Hearts and Coronets, according to production notes, "centers on Louis D’Ascoyne Mazzini who has been callously disinherited by the wealthy and titled D’Ascoyne Family. Louis seeks revenge by murdering the eight relatives who stand in his way of becoming the 10th Duke of Chalfont."

Raul Esparza starred on Broadway in Taboo, Cabaret and The Rocky Horror Show. He was seen in the national tours of Evita and tick, tick . . . BOOM! and also starred in two of the Stephen Sondheim musicals that comprised the Sondheim Celebration, Sunday in the Park with George and Merrily We Roll Along. Esparza was also part of the Actors' Fund benefit concerts of Chess and Hair.

Rebecca Luker starred opposite Craig Bierko in the acclaimed revival of The Music Man, garnering Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Award nominations for her role as Marian. Luker also appeared with Michael Cerveris and Judy Kuhn in the Kennedy Center production of Stephen Sondheim's Passion, and her other theatrical credits include roles in Nine, The Sound of Music, Show Boat, The Secret Garden and The Phantom of the Opera.