The Little Prince and the Aviator

{{Infobox Musical

|name= The Little Prince and the Aviator

|subtitle=

|image=

|caption=

|music= John Barry

|lyrics= Don Black

|book= Hugh Wheeler

|basis= Novel by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
The Little Prince

|productions= 1981 Broadway
never officially opened

|awards=

}}

The Little Prince and the Aviator is a musical with a book by Hugh Wheeler, lyrics by Don Black, and music by John Barry.{{cite web|url=http://ibdb.com/production.php?id=4153|title=The Little Prince and the Aviator|accessdate=June 24, 2020|website=IBDB}}

Based on the classic book by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, the musical deviates from the original in that aviator Toni, whose plane crashes in the Sahara Desert, explicitly is real-life author Saint-Exupéry, and the plot alternates flashbacks to actual events in his life with his interaction with the fictional Little Prince, a refugee from Asteroid B-612.

Undaunted by the critical and commercial failure of the 1974 musical screen adaptation by Lerner and Loewe, A. Joseph Tandet, a co-producer of the movie who owned the rights to the story, proceeded with his plans for a Broadway production. To save money, he decided to forgo an out-of-town tryout.

Previews were originally scheduled to begin on December 31, 1981 at the Alvin Theatre. The first preview was canceled at the last minute, after a change in both director and choreographer late in the rehearsal period; the production actually began previews on January 1, 1982. Late in rehearsals, Robert Kalfin was replaced as director by Jerry Adler and Billy Wilson replaced original choreographer Dania Krupska.{{cite news |title='Little Prince' suffering some growing pains |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/486221158/?terms=%22danya%2Bkrupska%22= |work=Daily News |date=December 30, 1981 |via=Newspapers.com}} The production starred Michael York as the Aviator and Anthony Rapp as the Little Prince, with Ellen Greene in a supporting role and Gordon Greenberg as young Georges.{{cite book |last=Mandelbaum |first=Ken |author-link=Ken Mandelbaum |title=Not Since Carrie: Forty Years of Broadway Musical Flops |date=1991 |publisher=St. Martin's Press |isbn=0-312-06428-4 |pages=29–31}} The show closed after twenty previews.{{cite news |title='Little Prince' Closes Before Formal Opening |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1982/01/23/theater/little-prince-closes-before-formal-opening.html |work=The New York Times |date=January 23, 1982 |page=14}}

Tandet sued the Nederlander Organization, claiming they had forced him to shut down the production with their demands for more money during its final week. He eventually was awarded $1,000,000,{{cite news |last1=Gerard |first1=Jeremy |title=Nederlander Loses Apeal Of 'Little Prince' Damages |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/10/16/theater/nederlander-loses-apeal-of-little-prince-damages.html |work=The New York Times |date=October 16, 1986 |page=C-14}} representing two-thirds of his investment.