GOODSPEED MUSICALS ANNOUNCES CAST OF NEW MUSICAL BAND GEEKS!
2010-04-20
EAST HADDAM, CONN.: Goodspeed Musicals, the only two-time Tony Award winning theatre in the country, is thrilled to announce the cast of Band Geeks!, a new musical. The spring production will kick off a three show season at Goodspeed’s Norma Terris Theatre in Chester, Conn. This feel-good musical comedy will run from May 13 through June 6, 2010. Band Geeks! is sponsored by Essex Savings Bank.
A high-stepping tribute to high school marching bands and misfits everywhere! With just nine members and dwindling funds, the Cuyahoga High Marching Beavers are close to extinction. When a troubled athlete is relegated to their ranks, tuba-playing band captain Elliott and his best friend Laura must find a way to unite the band, embrace their inner geek and save the Marching Beavers. A rousing and triumphant musical for all ages!
Band Geeks! features Music by Mark Allen, Gaby Alter, and Tommy Newman with Lyrics by Gaby Alter and Tommy Newman, and Book by Tommy Newman and Gordon Greenberg. Concept by Tommy Newman.
Elliott will be played by Jared Gertner who recently performed on Broadway in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. Laura will be played by Katie Klaus whose Broadway credits include A Catered Affair, Inherit the Wind and The Times They Are A-Changin’. The role of Mr. Hornsby will be played by Michael Winther whose Broadway credits include Mamma Mia! and the revivals of 1776 and Damn Yankees.
F. Michael Haynie will play Spitz; Patti Murin who was last seen in Broadway’s Xanadu will play Nicole. Ruthie Ann Miles will play Molly, Nkrumah Gatling will play Alvin, Michael Millan will play Kyle, Jacey Powers will play Natalia and Matt Braver will play Stewart
The role of Ms. Dixon will be played by Jill Abramovitz who returns to Goodspeed where she previously played the roles of Ms. Mink and Heddy Muskrat in last season’s holiday treat Jim Henson’s Emmet Otter. Ms. Abramovitz’s Broadway credits include 9 to 5 and Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me.
Tommar Wilson will play Jake. Mr. Wilson’s Broadway credits include Hair, Lestat, Never Gonna Dance, Hairspray, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, and the 2000 revival of The Music Man.
Band Geeks! will be directed by Goodspeed audience favorite Gordon Greenberg. Mr. Greenberg returns to Goodspeed where he directed the 2006 production of Pirates of Penzance and the 2008 comedy Half a Sixpence as well as The Norma Terris Theatre and Opera House productions Happy Days: A New Musical. Broadway performer Denis Jones will choreograph the production. In addition to his numerous performance credits, Mr. Jones served as Associate Choreographer for Broadway’s Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and Legally Blonde.
The sets will be designed by Tony nominated designer Anna Louizos whoseBroadway credits include Irving Berlin’s White Christmas, In the Heights, Curtains, High Fidelity and Avenue Q. She designed the Goodspeed Opera House productions of Jim Henson’sEmmet Otter and Me and My Girl. Costumes will be designed by Tony Award-winner Gregg Barnes who designed the costumes for the Goodspeed Opera House production of Jim Henson’sEmmet Otter. His Broadway credits includeLegally Blonde,The Drowsy Chaperone, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Flower Drum Song, Side Show and Bye Bye Birdie. The lighting design will be by Jeff Croiter. Mr. Croiter’s most recent design of the Broadway play Next Fall can currently be seen at The Helen Hayes Theatre. His designs for Goodspeed Musicals include Me and My Girl, The Baker's Wife, Pirates of Penzance, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn and Happy Days: A New Musical. The Music Director forBand Geeks!will be David Loud. Mr. Loud is Music Director for the current Off-Broadway hit by Kander & Ebb, The Scottsboro Boys. His Broadway credits include the current Broadway production of Sondheim on Sondheim as well as Curtains, the revival of Sweeney Todd, Ragtime and Steel Pier.Band Geeks! will be produced for Goodspeed Musicals by Michael P. Price.
Band Geeks! will run May 13 through June 6, 2010. Curtain times are Wednesday at 2:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., Thursday at 7:30 p.m.*, Friday at 8:00 p.m., Saturday at 3:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m., and Sunday at 2:00 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. (*Thurs. 8 pm only on May 13th) .
Tickets are available through the Box Office (860.873.8668), open seven days a week, or on-line at www.goodspeed.org. For show highlights, exclusive photos, special events and more visit us at goodspeed.org and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
This production is made possible in part by our Marquee Sponsors Rich Cersosimo and Valerie Koif, and the National Alliance for Musical Theatre’s National Fund for New Musicals.
Dedicated to the preservation and advancement of musical theatre, Goodspeed Musicals produces three musicals each season at the Goodspeed Opera House in East Haddam, Conn., and additional productions at The Norma Terris Theatre in Chester, Conn., which was opened in 1984 for the development of new musicals. The only regional theatre to receive two Tony Awards (for outstanding achievement), Goodspeed also maintains the Scherer Library of Musical Theatre and The Max Showalter Center for Education in the Musical Theater. Goodspeed gratefully acknowledges the support of Essex Savings Bank, the National Endowment for the Arts and the Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism.
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For more information, to schedule an interview, or to receive stock art, please contact Elisa Hale (ext. 323) or Dan McMahon (ext. 324) at 860.873.8664.