“Somewhere, My Love,” there’s a great musical to be made from this classic tale. This isn’t it

Currently playing on Broadway is a spectacular production of a lavish musical based on a classic novel, featuring doomed lovers and set during the tumultuous events of a historical revolution. Regrettably for the producers of the new “Doctor Zhivago,” that musical is “Les Miserables.” The specter of that earlier show hangs uneasily over this adaptation of Boris Pasternak’s 1957 novel, set in Russia during the early decades of the 20th century. So, unfortunately, does the memory of David Lean’s classic film version, starring Omar Sharif in the title role and a luminous Julie Christie as his beloved Lara. Speaking of Lara, it’s also hard to walk into the theater without the strains of the film’s gorgeous theme song, “Somewhere My Love,” otherwise known as “Lara’s Theme,” playing in your head. And sure enough, as if not wanting to dash the audience’s expectations, the number is performed midway through the first act. Not as a soaring love ballad, mind you, but rather as an ersatz folk song delivered by a group of female nurses. The notes are all there, but the emotion is sorely lacking. The same could be said of the entirety of this big-budget musical directed by Des McAnuff (“The Who’s Tommy,” “Jersey Boys”), featuring music by Lucy Simon (“The Secret Garden”), lyrics by Michael Korie (“Grey Gardens”) and Amy Powers, and a book by Michael Weller. The show dutifully features all the major characters and dramatic moments familiar from the book and film, but in a breathlessly paced, mechanical style that never manages to engage the heart or mind.