NEW YORK – Randy Quaid will make his Broadway musical comedy debut this season as Col. John Falstaff, a larger-than-life character in “Lone Star Love,” a twangy, Wild West variation on Shakespeare’s “The Merry Wives of Windsor.”

The musical will open Dec. 3 at the Belasco Theatre, its producers announced Thursday. Preview performances begin Nov. 1. The cast will also include Robert Cuccioli, the original Broadway star of “Jekyll & Hyde,” and Dee Hoty, who appeared in “Footloose” and “The Will Rogers Follies.”

“Lone Star Love” has a book by John L. Haber and Robert Horn and a score by Jack Herrick, one of the members of the eclectic musical group, the Red Clay Ramblers. The Ramblers will be featured on stage in the show.

Quaid is best known for his appearance in such films as “The Last Picture Show,” “Midnight Express” and “The Last Detail.”

“Lone Star Love,” directed and choreographed by Randy Skinner, will play a tryout engagement at Seattle’s 5th Avenue Theatre, Sept. 8-Sept. 30.

An earlier incarnation of the musical had a two-month run off-Broadway during the 2004-2005 theater season.

A service of the Associated Press(AP)