Spike Lee will direct ‘Stalag 17’ for Broadway

Filmmaker Spike Lee will branch into stage directing with a Broadway revival next spring of “Stalag 17,” the prototypical prisoner-of-war story about captured American airmen trying to escape a German compound during World War II.

Lee said in a statement that he responded to producer Michael Abbott’s overtures because of his admiration for Billy Wilder’s 1953 film adaptation of the 1951 play by Donald Bevan and Edmund Trzcinski, based on their POW experiences.

Lee promises a show that “will have a contemporary look, yet still stay true to the period and the original play.”

Although he referred to “Stalag 17” as “my first foray into the theater,” he isn’t a complete virgin: Lee directed the 2001 television adaptation of “A Huey P. Newton Story,” an Obie-winning play by L.A. actor-playwright Roger Guenveur Smith.