No new stage musical is born overnight -- and the journey of the Dallas Theater Center's Giant, in fact, began nearly 60 years ago. Here's a look at the epic process.
1952: Newspaper-reporter-turned-novelist Edna Ferber publishes the novel Giant, set on a fictitious ranch named Reata in Texas. Although some Texans bristle at the portrait of their home state by the Michigan-born, New York City-based Ferber, the novel is the sixth-bestselling book of the year.
1955: After beginning production in Los Angeles in May, director George Stevens and the cast of the film, led by Rock Hudson, Elizabeth Taylor and James Dean, travel to Marfa in June to continue shooting the epic production, which quickly falls behind schedule.
1956: The three-hour-plus film is released to strong reviews and goes on to earn 10 Oscar nominations, including a posthumous one for Dean, who died in a car crash in September 1955, before the film was released. The film only wins one Oscar, though, for Stevens' direction.
2007: The Signature Theatre in Virginia launches the American Musical Voices Projects, designed to foster the development of new stage musicals. John Michael LaChiusa is one of three composers awarded a grant of $25,000 a year, plus health insurance, for four years. The Signature commits to workshopping and staging whatever he comes up with.
2007: Having previously talked with Ferber's great-niece and guardian of her estate, Julie Gilbert, about the possibility of a musical adaptation of Giant -- and having decided it would be impossible to pull off -- LaChiusa revisits the idea. He strikes up a collaboration with Sybille Pearson, a New York University professor and musical-theater writer best known for the show Baby, who will adapt Ferber's novel for the show's book.
2009: The Signature's production of Giant, directed by British choreographer Jonathan Butterell and running nearly four hours, premieres to mixed reviews.
2010: Eager to bring the show to Texas, Kevin Moriarty, the Dallas Theater Center artistic director, teams up with Oskar Eustis, artistic director of the Public Theater in New York, to pitch LaChiusa and Pearson to stage a revised version of Giant in Dallas and then in New York.
2011: A new director, Michael Greif (Rent), and cast, begin workshopping the show in New York. The Dallas Theater's Center announces Giant -- their biggest show yet -- will be the centerpiece of its 2011-2012 season.
Jan. 6, 2012: The cast and crew are gathered together for the first time and rehearsals begin.
Jan. 18, 2012: The show stages its first preview. The creators continue to make changes.
Jan. 27, 2012: Opening night finally arrives.
Next up: The show is expected to travel to New York City, most likely in the fall or spring 2013.
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