Revenge has never tasted so sweet.

On Friday, the Old Globe will launch the world premiere of "The First Wives Club," a Broadway-bound musical with a dream team of Broadway veterans. Three years in development, the musical is based on the 1992 book by Olivia Goldsmith (and subsequent 1996 film starring Goldie Hawn, Bette Midler and Diane Keaton) about three middle-aged Manhattanites who plot revenge on their husbands, who've left them for younger women.

The musical features a book by three-time Tony winner Rupert Holmes ("Curtains," "The Mystery of Edwin Drood") and a new score by the songwriting trio of Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier and Eddie Holland, whose pop and R&B catalog has received more than 100 million radio and TV airplays. Although their songs have been recorded by everyone from Rod Stewart and Michael Jackson to the Dixie Chicks and the Carpenters, HDH (as they're nicknamed) are best known for their string of hits for the Supremes and other '60s Motown groups, including "You Can't Hurry Love" and "Baby I Need Your Loving."

Director Francesca Zambello said she was drawn to the piece because it has accessible themes that everyone can relate to.

"It's about family and how these divorced women better themselves through friendship," Zambello said during an open rehearsal at the Globe a few weeks ago. "These women bond … and there's a real message of empowerment and rediscovery of their self-esteem."

In the "First Wives Club," Annie (a neurotic stay-at-home mom), Elyse (an aging actress) and Brenda (a Jewish single mom) are old college friends who've lost touch with each other until they reunite at the funeral of an old friend, Cynthia, who committed suicide after her husband left her for a younger woman. There, Annie, Elyse and Brenda realize that they've all suffered the same fate at the hands of their philandering husbands. Annie's husband, Aaron, has left her for his therapist but she still hopes for a reunion; Elyse's producer husband, Bill, is suing her for half her fortune; and Brenda helped build her husband Morty's appliance chain business, until he left her for the much-younger TV spokesmodel featured in his commercials. After the funeral, the women craft a plan (with their gay interior decorator friend, Duane) to regain both their dignity and their fortunes.

In bringing the project to the stage, Zambello said one major change was made to the story to give it a more modern context. The role of Elyse (played on film by Goldie Hawn) has been rewritten as a black character, who will be played in the Globe production by Sheryl Lee Ralph, a Tony nominee for "Dreamgirls," an original castmate of "Thoroughly Modern Millie" at La Jolla Playhouse, and stepmom "Dee" on TV's "Moesha". (Ralph replaced Adriane Lenox, Tony-winner for "Doubt," early in the rehearsal process when Lenox was forced to withdraw for health reason.)

Bookwriter Holmes (a songwriter himself, with the catchy 1979 "Pina Colada" song to his credit) said the combination of the HDH score with the story about three women at midlife is potent because the songwriting trio's radio hits "were the kind of music these three women heard when they were growing up." And because HDH were known for their harmony numbers (written for the Supremes, Martha and the Vandellas and the Four Tops, among others), the Globe musical will feature a three-woman backup trio, who will not only sing doo-wop style harmonies, but will serve as a singing Greek chorus, who will offer lyrical counterpoint and commentary to the action occurring onstage, Holmes said.

During the open rehearsal, the cast ran through a series of numbers that mark critical points in the show.

"Ready for a Change," which occurs in the last 20 minutes of Act I, is a lively women's anthem where Annie, Elyse and Brenda bond over their shared goal of revenge. The show's first-act closer is "My Heart Wants to Try One More Time," a ballad by Annie (played by Tony-winning "Contact" star Karen Ziemba) about how she's having second thoughts because she still loves her husband. Act II opens with "You're So Lucky," a comedy number sung by the three husbands (played by Brad Oscar, Kevyn Morrow and John Dossett), each crowing about their new relationships and sex lives with much-younger women (all three trophy wives are played by actress Sara Chase). And "Jump for Joy" is an ensemble dance number where the repressed Annie lets loose in a singles bar and rediscovers her sexy self.

The musical was still undergoing significant development over the past few weeks, and Zambello said many changes would probably be made to the script and score as it was fine-tuned for Globe audiences. After it finishes up its run here, Old Globe executive producer Lou Spisto said "The First Wives Club" will move on to Broadway. Although a theater has not been locked in for the show's Broadway debut, production money has been secured for at least a large portion of the Broadway production.

"The First Wives Club -- a New Musical"

When: Opens Friday and runs through Aug. 23; showtimes, 8 p.m. Thursday-Saturdays; 2 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays; 7 p.m. Sundays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays

Where: Old Globe Theatre, Balboa Park, San Diego

Tickets: $55-$92

Phone: 619-234-5623

Web: oldglobe.org