Can't say I'm surprised.
It was announced a few months ago that a Broadway musical of XANADU, the awful 80s musical film starring Olivia Newton John directed by Gene Kelly, was headed to the Helen Hayes Theatre. Though the idea of converting bad movies into new musicals is not so unforeseeable nowadays (THE WEDDING SINGER, EVIL DEAD, ECT), what really surprised me was the notion of doing a full-scale musical in the intimate Helen Hayes, which is used nowadays mostly for one man/woman shows with cheap production budgets.
Word has now spread that Jane Krakowski, who was expected to play the rollerblading lead heroine played in the film by Newton John, has pulled out both due to the popularity of 30 ROCK on NBC and the realization that the show most likely will/would not be a critical or popular hit.
It's not clear whether the show will go on without her. Though I'm intrigued to see it, as I would be for any Broadway musical in development, from a practical producer standpoint, I can't imagine how something like that could compete in this Broadway season. At the very least, it could not possibly be nominated for the Best Musical Tony, a field which will include SPRING AWAKENING, GREY GARDENS, CURTAINS and one of the following: MARY POPPINS, LOVEMUSIK or LEGALLY BLONDE. if LOVEMUSIK is good, it'll be nominated. If not, maybe MARY POPPINS.
The real race in any event will be between CURTAINS and SPRING AWAKENING. And considering the current SPRING AWAKENING media blitz, it's chances at the moment look pretty good...