Steve Martin, Edie Brickell aiming to take ‘Bright Star’ to Broadway

“Bright Star,” the new musical from Steve Martin and Edie Brickell, will play at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington starting in December, before a planned Broadway opening in spring 2016, organizers announced Tuesday.

The bluegrass-themed musical is set to begin a limited run of performances at the Kennedy Center on Dec. 2 and will run through Jan. 10. The show features music by Martin and Brickell and a book by Martin. The actor doesn’t appear in the musical.

No details have been announced for the planned Broadway engagement.

“Bright Star” debuted in September at the Old Globe in San Diego. The historical musical is a love story that takes place in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina and is set during two different parts of the 20th century.

In reviewing the Old Globe production, critics generally praised the music by Martin and Brickell but said the plot needed fine tuning. A spokesman for the show confirmed a report Tuesday in the New York Times that “Bright Star” is undergoing some revisions.

“Changes have already been made and the work continues leading up to the Kennedy Center engagement,” said the spokesman.

Walter Bobbie is returning to direct the musical, as he did at the Old Globe.

“Bright Star” marks Martin’s first foray into writing a major stage musical. The actor has written screenplays for films including “Roxanne” and “L.A. Story” and was this year’s recent recipient of the American Film Institute’s Life Achievement Award.

Martin is also an accomplished musician and regularly performs the banjo at live concerts.

Martin and Brickell won a Grammy Award last year for the song “Love Has Come for You” from the album of the same name.

Twitter: @DavidNgLAT