Simon Callow drops out of delayed 5,000 Fingers

An upcoming stage musical version of the Dr. Seuss film The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T has been pushed back for a year and in doing so has lost out actor-director Simon Callow, according to Playbill On-Line. Callow was slated to direct the show, based on the 1953 cult film about a young boy kidnapped by an evil piano teacher, but the opening was delayed due to difficulty in securing funding following the September 11 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, D.C. 5,000 Fingers, featuring songs by Glen Roven and a book by Anthony Horowitz, is scheduled to open in Dallas in spring 2003, with a Broadway launch to follow.