“Somewhere In Time,” the popular novel by Richard Matheson and a motion picture starring Christopher Reeve and Jane Seymour that was filmed on Mackinac Island, is being adapted into a musical for Broadway. Producer Ken Davenport obtained the rights to the story about five years ago and will be writing the script for the play.

He said he chose this story for a musical because it is one of his favorite movies.

“I was walking through a video store with a girlfriend of mine -- I am constantly looking for shows to turn into musicals -- and somehow the title on the box sort of jumped out at me,” he said. “I turned to her and I said, 'Would this make a good musical?' and her eyes sort of widened when she saw the title and she was like, 'Yes, yes, it's so romantic and it's beautiful.' So, I rented it that night and I watched it and I totally agreed with her.”

The element of magic was also something that inspired Mr. Davenport.

“For me, it has just the right amount of fantasy,” he said. “Plus, it is one of the most romantic movies I have seen in my life.”

This story is unique, Mr. Davenport explained, because so many people can relate to it and are touched by it.

“Everyone dreams that there is a perfect someone out there for them,” he said. “It's the knight in shining armor theory. You know, everyone walks down the street thinking, 'Could I meet the man or woman of my dreams today?' I think 'Somewhere in Time' asks that question. What if that person was 80 years in the past? Would you love them enough, could you love them enough to break through even nature's barriers to get to them? That's what happens in the movie and that's a very powerful idea.”

The 1980 film still has a strong following and has its own fan club, the International Network of Somewhere In Time Enthusiasts, who gather at Grand Hotel every year.

The movie tells the story of a Chicago man who visits a luxury resort hotel, where he is smitten by the photograph of a woman who appeared there in 1912. After learning from a professor that time travel is possible, he hypnotizes himself to travel back to 1912 to meet her.

The musical will be set on Mackinac Island, as the movie was, and Mr. Davenport plans to visit here.

“So much of that movie is the Island and Grand Hotel,” he said. “Grand Hotel will definitely be a character, itself.”

With the adaptation still in the works, it may take a couple of years to reach completion, but Mr. Davenport says he is excited about the project.

“It's a very long process,” he said. “The first is that I had to get the rights to do a musical treatment of it from the author of the book, Richard Matheson, as well as the movie company. Then, after that, it's about finding the right authors for the piece, the right composer, the right lyricist.”

Finding the right creative mix of people to work on the project is a time consuming process.

“This property, a lot of people were interested in writing for it,” Mr. Davenport said. “I went to some composers that I had worked with before. I went to some people that I thought just had the right style. Some people approach me, and then I usually just have everyone that is interested in the show write a couple of samples, a couple of songs, to see if they can write in the style.”

The real work of the process begins after the piece is written, he said.

“The piece goes through many different drafts and many different songs,” he said. “We often put it in front of some people. We will do a draft and then put it in front of 30 people, friends and family and business associates, and get notes and do another draft and do another reading. It's a slow, slow process of testing the material out, and it can take several years.”

Creating music to go with the story is another part of the intricate collaboration process, Mr. Davenport pointed out.

“Every collaboration is different, but the book writer and the composer, lyricist, usually work together, and the book writer usually writes the scene and says, 'I'm thinking that there could be a song here,' and the composer looks at it and says, 'Oh yeah, I think that looks good, too,'” he said. “Or sometimes the composer says, 'That scene you wrote is great, but I think I can do the same thing in a song,' and that's often the case, and scenes get eliminated in exchange for a song.”

Mr. Davenport is a Broadway and Off-Broadway producer. He started in show business as an actor but thought he do a lot more behind the scenes.

“I took my creative side from my time as an actor, merged that with my business side from my time as a manager, and came up with the producer that I am,” he said.

Shawn Pelon of St. Ignace became aware of plans to turn the movie into a Broadway musical while working with two young actors who starred in the Broadway musical “13,” in which Mr. Davenport was one of the producers.

“Ken Davenport has a great track record for Broadway and Off- Broadway shows, working with some of the biggest names in the business,” Mr. Pelon said. “If anyone can put this show together, it’s Ken Davenport.”

Some of Mr. Davenport's recent Broadway productions include “Oleanna” starring Bill Pullman and Julia Stiles, “Speed-the-Plow” starring Raul Esparza, Will Ferrell’s “You're Welcome, America,” “Blithe Spirit” starring Angela Lansbury, and “13.” He also writes an online report that has been featured in Vanity Fair, New York Magazine, The Gothamist, and other publications.