Reunited, the Rascals Bring Their Act to Broadway

Chad Batka for The New York Times The Rascals performing at the Capitol Theater in December.

Having recently reunited for a series of shows in Port Chester, N.Y., the 1960s blue-eyed soul band the Rascals are bringing their act to Broadway for a limited engagement in April at the Richard Rodgers Theater, the producers said on Thursday.

First staged at the Capitol Theater in December, the extravagant show, “Once Upon a Dream,” not only marked the first time the Rascals had played publicly in four decades, but featured videotaped segments and re-enactments by ctors aimed at tracing the history of the band, whose hits included “Good Lovin’,” “Groovin’” and “People Got to Be Free.”

The show has been variously described as a “BioConcert” or “a hybrid of a rock’n'roll concert and a Broadway show.” It was written and produced by Steven Van Zandt, the actor, producer and longtime guitarist for the E Street Band.

Now Mr. Van Zandt, in partnership with the concert promoter Larry Magid and with BASE Entertainment, is bringing the show to Broadway for a 15-night run, starting with previews on April 15, with an official opening on April 18.

Marc Brickman, a lighting designer most known for his work with Pink Floyd, crafted a psychedelic light show and Op-art explosions to go with the quartet’s stomping R&B-inflected songs. At times during the show, a big video screen presents band members as they reminisce about their history and the turbulent 1960s.

The Rascals â€" the singer Eddie Br! igati, the keyboardist Felix Cavaliere, the drummer Dino Danelli and the guitarist Gene Cornish â€" got their start in the mid-’60s in New York and New Jersey bars doing covers of soul hits, but soon developed their own style. From 1966 to 1968 they were regularly in the Top 10, as their music changed from garage-soul covers like “Good Lovin’” in 1966 to jazz-tinged songs like “Groovin’” in 1967, and finally to idealistic anthems like “People Got to Be Free,” in 1968, released after the assassinations of Robert F. Kennedy and the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

The Rascals’ songs were largely written by Mr. Cavaliere and Mr. Brigati, and they presented a hopeful outlook, praising love and freedom without delving into some of the era’s more ugly undercurrents. Still, they earned a reputation for being principled on civil rights issues by demanding that black bands always appear with them in concert, even at the expense of losing gigs in the South.

Mr. Brigati and Mr. Cornishhad left the group by 1972, ending its original lineup, though Mr. Cavaliere continued to a version of Rascals a little longer. The original lineup played together at its 1997 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction and for a private 2010 benefit organized by Mr. Van Zandt and his wife, Maureen, who also a producer of “Once Upon a Dream.”

Tickets go on sale to the general public on Feb. 22.