DARN! I loved this movie, and I was really looking forward to seeing this show. However, it looks like some hard decisions were made, and The Mambo Kings is being shelved. And they've got a marquee and everything on Broadway!

Daryl and Jordan Roth will not make their first collaboration on Broadway with the musical The Mambo Kings. The mother-son producing team announced the show will not reach New York.

"We are deeply grateful for the amazing dedication and remarkable spirit of the entire cast, crew and creative team of The Mambo Kings," said Daryl and Jordan Roth. "While we had pursued several incredibly talented people to join the team and help us realize the full potential of the show, it became apparent to us all that the production could not successfully go forward on the current schedule."

The stage version of Oscar Hijuelos' Pulitzer Prize-winning novel made its world premiere at San Francisco's Golden Gate Theatre, opening May 31 to lackluster reviews. The work was next slated for a berth at the Broadway Theatre, starting previews July 20 and opening Aug. 18.

Speculation in the theatrical community in recent weeks had Tommy Tune and Maury Yeston as possible show doctors with names like Jerry Mitchell, Jason Robert Brown and David Ives also being bandied about. Production spokespersons did not confirm any change in the creative team.

Based on the Hijuelos' "The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love," the musical follows the same story of two Cuban brothers who travel to New York City in 1949 with dreams of becoming recording stars. The Latin siblings -- flashy, guitarist Cesar and his shy, trumpet-playing brother Nestor -- rise to fame from the dance halls to perform as Desi Arnaz's cousins on "I Love Lucy."

The novel was adapted for the film starring Armand Assante and Antonio Banderas directed by Arne Glimcher. Glimcher now provides book (with Hijuelos) and lyrics for the musical version which features music by Carlos Franzetti -- who also scored the film. Sergio Trujillo served as choreographer with Glimcher as director for the California premiere.

Bad luck befell the production two weeks prior to its California debut when previously announced star Billy Dee Williams left the production "due to an aggravated hip condition," a release stated. Williams was to play nightclub impresario Fernando Perez, a role that went to David Alan Grier (A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum).

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