Coraline… the Musical?

Not content with having a Newbury Award, the the top-debuting, wide-release, stop-motion film in movie history, and throngs of adoring fans dressed in black, now Neil Gaiman is trying for a Obie Award.

Coraline the musical goes into previews on May 7 at the Lucille Lortel Theater, off-Broadway in Greenwich Village, where it will run through June 20. The book is by David Greenspan and music and lyrics by Stephin Merritt, and directed by Leigh Silverman.

Casting will be– unconventional, to say the least. 9-year-old Coraline will be played by 55-year-old actress Jayne Houdyshell, with the Other Mother played by David Greenspan. (Cross-dressing in Greenwich Village? That never happens…)