‘Fortress of Solitude’ Musical to Open in Dallas

“The Fortress of Solitude” â€" a new musical which its composer, Michael Friedman, once described as “a history of soul music on a particular block in Brooklyn” â€" will have its world premiere in Dallas before landing closer to home, at the Public Theater in Manhattan.

The Dallas Theater Center and the Public on Monday announced that the co-production, an adaptation of Jonathan Lethem’s 2003 novel about boyhood friends in 1970s Boerum Hill, will open in Dallas next March and subsequently be part of the Public’s 2014-15 season.

The show is conceived and directed by Daniel Aukin (“4000 Miles”), with a book by Itamar Moses (“Completeness”) and music and lyrics by Mr. Friedman (“Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson”).

A statement from Dallas Theater Center, where the musical will begin performances on March 7, 2014, described the plot this way: “Two motherless boys, Dylan and Mingus, become close friends in 1970s Brooklyn. They grow up in a world of soul and funk, superheroes and graffiti-tagging in this story of loyalty and friendship.”

There were no details on casting. Santino Fontana, Kyle Beltran, and Rebecca Naomi Jones were among those in the cast for last summer’s workshop as part of New ! York Stage and Film’s season at Vassar College.

The “Fortress” co-production is the second recent collaboration between the Dallas theater and the Public. “Giant,” an ambitious musical with songs by Michael John LaChiusa, played in Dallas before opening at the Public last fall.