Top 10 Broadway Musicals Opening 2012

A transfer from La Jolla Playhouse on the West Coast, everyone is looking forward to the Broadway revival of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice's legendary rock musical Jesus Christ Superstar. Leading the cast are Paul Nolan as "Jesus Christ," Josh Young as "Judas Iscariot," Chilina Kennedy as "Mary Magdalene," Tom Hewitt as "Pontius Pilate," Bruce Dow as "King Herod," Marcus Nance as "Caiaphas," and Aaron Walpole as "Annas." Superstar begins Previews March 1st with Opening Night set for March 22, 2012, at the Neil Simon Theatre at 250 West 52nd Street.

Evita is another one of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice's iconic musicals hitting the boards of Broadway in 2012. Starring Ricky Martin as "Che," Elena Roger as "Eva Peron," and Tony winner Michael Cerveris as "Juan Peron." Evita won several Tony Awards when it originally opened in 1979, and this revival is the first time the show has been re-imagined for Broadway in over 30 years. Evita opens at the Marquis Theatre April 5, 2012.

Hot off her Tony win for Best Choreographer for the 2011 Best Revival, Anything Goes, Kathleen Marshall is back at the helm of another classic musical. Marshall is directing and choreographing Nice Work If You Can Get It, which stars Tony winner Matthew Broderick and Broadway leading lady Kelli O'Hara. The revival opens at the Imperial Theatre April 24, 2012.

Hot off the musical festival trail, Once is a new musical based on an Academy Award-winning film of the same name. Set in Dublin, Ireland, the plot revolves around two musicians, one Irish, the other Czech, as they learn and love each other over the course a one week. Steve Kazee plays the "Guy," and Cristin Milioti is the "Girl." Once begins Previews February 28th and officially Opens March 18, 2012, at the Bernard Jacobs Theatre at 242 W 45th Street.

Another Menken musical hitting the Broadway boards in 2012 is also another film-turned-musical with a bevy of Broadway pros on stage and behind the scenes. Leap of Faith stars four-time nominee Raul Esparza and will open April 26, 2012, at the St. James Theatre. With Tony nominees in the cast and Tony winners helming the creative team, the success of this new musical venture is practically a sure-thing, not just a "leap of faith."

Straight from a critically acclaimed run in London's West End, Ghost the Musical is the stage musical version of the Academy Award-winning film, Ghost, which starred Demi Moore, Patrick Swayze, and Whoopi Goldberg. Ghost the Musical is directed by Tony Award winner Matthew Warchus (God of Carnage, The Norman Conquests, Boeing-Boeing) and choreographed by Ashley Wallen ("The X Factor"). The original score is by Eurythmics' Dave Stewart and Glen Ballard, and the book by Bruce Joel Rubin, who has adapted his Academy Award-winning original screenplay for this stage production. This brand new score also includes the iconic song "Unchained Melody," famously performed in the film by The Righteous Brothers. Ghost the Musical will open at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre on April 23, 2012.

Disney's newest musical to hit Broadway is, Newsies, a film-turned-musical that shows the struggle of newspaper boys during an 1899 strike in New York City. Featuring a score by Academy Award winner Alan Menken and Jack Feldman, the book is written by four-time Tony Award winner Harvey Fierstein of La Cage aux Folles. Newsies will play a strictly limited run until June 10, 2012.

One of the most anticipated shows of the 2011-2012 season is the European transfer of Rebecca the Musical, a musical adaption of Alfred Hitchcock's famous film noir classic. Michael Kunze wrote the book and lyrics and Sylvester Levay composed the music. Tony Award-winner Michael Blakemore and Francesca Zambello will direct. Sierra Boggess, of Master Class and Love Never Dies, has been approached to play the role of "I." Rebecca is set to open at the Broadhurst Theatre in the Fall of 2012.

Caroline Sherman and Robert Hull's new musical about the struggle to design and build the world's tallest Skyscraper is Empire. Matt Lenz will direct this story which focuses on the love story between an ambitious architect and a determined female reporter who come together in spite of their opposing viewpoints on the project. A cast of 24 rounds out the ensemble of architects, workers, and financiers who dared to create a true world renown landmark and one of the most iconic sites in New York City.

Tony-nominated composer Andrew Lippa brings his latest show to Broadway in 2012. Big Fish is based on the novel by Daniel Wallace and the 2003 Columbia Pictures film directed by Tim Burton. The stage production will be directed and choreographed by Tony Award winner Susan Stroman, with a book by John August. The theatre for this production will be announced soon.