Neil Gaiman's Coraline to hit off-Broadway, on-screen

In Coraline, the 2002 young adult novella by acclaimed fantasy author Neil Gaiman, the young title character discovers an alternate universe populated by the mysterious doppelgangers of her loving but distant parents, and must scrape by on her own wits to escape. Often compared to Alice In Wonderland, it’s a compelling story—and sturdy enough, one hopes, to be retold in three different way throughout the next year.

This June, Coraline will be re-released in graphic novel form, featuring art by longtime Gaiman illustrator P. Craig Russell. IMDb currently gives February 6, 2009 as the release date for a full-length animated feature helmed by Henry Selick, who also directed A Nightmare Before Christmas (and, um, Monkeybone). And finally (and perhaps most fantastically), May 2009 will see the debut of Coraline as an off-Broadway musical.

Much like the novella’s Other Mother and Other Father, the film and musical versions of Coraline are probably best understood as foils. On one side, Coraline (the musical) features music and lyrics by Stephin Merritt, whose Gothic Archies soundtracked Gaiman’s official Coraline site back in 2002, two years before their Tragic Treasury soundtracked Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events. The musical’s book was penned by David Greenspan, who will also star as Coraline’s scheming Other Mother (his second time, so far as we can tell, playing a lady onstage). It runs May 9-June 20, 2009, at the MCC Theater in Greenwich, N.Y.

On the other side, Coraline (the film) has enlisted They Might Be Giants to provide a big-picture soundtrack, building on the band’s many previous forays into kid-friendly pop-rock. Teri Hatcher and John Hodgman are slated to voice both Coraline’s Mother/Other Mother and Father/Other Father, respectively, and Dakota Fanning voices the title character.

So, basically, it’s darkly erudite lyricism and cross-dressing versus an uber-kid-friendly visual feast? Really? Is that even a contest?! The most macabre aspect of the latter might just be imagining Lois Lane and a PC producing offspring of any kind, even animated. Just kidding! We just watched the teaser and it actually looks pretty creepy. And let’s hope so, Gaiman fans, because unless next spring finds you up NYC way, it looks like the celluloid Coraline is all you’re gonna get.