CASTING ANNOUNCEMENT!
ROUNDABOUT THEATRE COMPANY
In association with UNIVERSAL STAGE PRODUCTIONS
HOLIDAY INN, THE NEW IRVING BERLIN MUSICAL
The New Broadway Production Will Star
BRYCE PINKHAM
LORA LEE GAYER MEGAN LAWRENCE MEGAN SIKORA
with
CORBIN BLEU
and
LEE WILKOF
Music & Lyrics by Book by
IRVING BERLIN GORDON GREENBERG & CHAD HODGE
Music Direction by ANDY EINHORN
Choreography by DENIS JONES
Directed by GORDON GREENBERG
Inspired by the Academy Award-winning film, Holiday Inn
Performances begin September 1, 2016
Official opening October 6, 2016
On Broadway at Studio 54
Roundabout Theatre Company (Todd Haimes, Artistic Director), in association with Universal Stage Productions, is pleased to announce that the first-ever Broadway production of HOLIDAY INN, THE NEW IRVING BERLIN MUSICAL will star Tony Award nominee Bryce Pinkham (A Gentleman’s Guide…, The Heidi Chronicles) as “Jim,” Lora Lee Gayer (Doctor Zhivago, Follies) as “Linda,” Tony Award nominee Megan Lawrence (The Pajama Game, Hair) as “Louise,” Megan Sikora (The Nance, How to Succeed…) as “Lila Dixon,” with Corbin Bleu (In the Heights, Godspell) as “Ted” and Tony Award nominee Lee Wilkof (Kiss Me, Kate, Breakfast at Tiffany’s) as “Danny.” With music and lyrics by Irving Berlin, Gordon Greenberg and Chad Hodge’s new book is inspired by the Academy Award-winning film, Holiday Inn.
Directed by Gordon Greenberg and choreographed by Denis Jones, Holiday Inn, The New Irving Berlin Musical will begin preview performances on September 1, 2016, and open officially on October 6, 2016, on Broadway at Studio 54 (254 West 54th Street). This will be a limited engagement.
Holiday Inn, The New Irving Berlin Musical tells the story of Jim, who leaves the bright lights of show business behind to settle down on his farmhouse in Connecticut. He quickly discovers life isn’t the same without a bit of song and dance. Jim’s luck takes a spectacular turn when he meets Linda, a spirited schoolteacher with talent to spare. Together they turn the farmhouse into a fabulous inn with dazzling performances to celebrate each holiday, from Thanksgiving to the Fourth of July. But when Jim’s best friend Ted tries to lure Linda away to be his new dance partner in Hollywood, will Jim be able to salvage his latest chance at love?
The new musical features over 20 classic songs from the Irving Berlin catalogue including “Steppin’ Out With My Baby,” “Shaking the Blues Away,” “Easter Parade,” “Cheek to Cheek” and “Heatwave.”
The creative team for Holiday Inn, The New Irving Berlin Musical will include Anna Louizos (Sets), Alejo Vietti (Costumes), Jeff Croiter (Lights), Keith Caggiano (Sound), Joe Dulude II (Make-up), Chuck LaPointe (Wigs), Andy Einhorn (Music Director/ Supervisor), Larry Blank (Orchestrations), Sam Davis (Vocal & Dance Arrangements), Bruce Pomahac (Additional Dance & Vocal Arrangements), John Miller (Music Coordinator).
Final casting will be announced shortly.
Holiday Inn benefits from Roundabout’s Musical Theatre Fund with lead gifts from The Howard Gilman Foundation and Perry and Marty Granoff.
Holiday Inn was originally developed at The Goodspeed Opera House, one of the country’s most respected nonprofit institutions.
TICKET INFORMATION:
Holiday Inn, The New Irving Berlin Musical is first made available to subscribers and donors. Whether you are interested in the best value or VIP experiences, Roundabout has a package option for you. Visit roundabouttheatre.org or call 212-719-1300 for more info. Sign up for Roundabout’s email club at roundabouttheatre.org to be notified when tickets go on sale to the public.
PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE:
Holiday Inn, The New Irving Berlin Musical will play Tuesday through Saturday evening at 8:00PM with Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday matinees at 2:00PM.
BIOS:
BRYCE PINKHAM (Jim). An American stage and screen actor, Bryce is most widely known for originating the role of Monty Navarro in the Tony Award-winning production of A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder, for which he was nominated for a Tony, Grammy and Drama Desk Award. Most recently, he appeared in the Broadway revival of The Heidi Chronicles as Peter Patrone, for which he was nominated for an Outer Critics Circle Award and a Drama League Award for Distinguished Performance in 2015. His other Broadway credits include Carl Bruner in Ghost the Musical and Henry Clay in Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson. Bryce’s television appearances include “The Good Wife” (CBS), “Person of Interest” (CBS), and the PBS miniseries “God in America.” His upcoming on-screen appearances include Baz Lurman’s Netflix series The Get Down, Robert DeNiro’s The Comedian and the second season of PBS’ Civil War Drama Series Mercy Street. A graduate of the Yale School of Drama, Bryce was awarded the Leonore Annenberg Foundation Early Career Fellowship in 2012. As a writer, Bryce has published articles on acting, performing, and education in American Theater Magazine, Yale Alumni Magazine and others. In 2012 Bryce helped found Zara Aina, an NGO that uses the power of theatrical storytelling to empower at-risk youth. In May 2013, Bryce led a team of American artists on Zara Aina’s pilot program to Madagascar. Bryce is also a frequent collaborator with Outside the Wire, a social impact theater company that serves many communities but particularly focuses on military audiences. His most notable international tours include Guantanamo Bay, Japan, Kuwait, and Qatar. Bryce holds a BA from Boston College and an MA from the Yale School of Drama.
CORBIN BLEU (Ted) is probably best known for the Emmy Award-winning “High School Musical” franchise. More recently, Bleu partnered with Karina Smirnoff on the 17th season of “Dancing With The Stars,” placing a close second. Bleu starred on Broadway as “Jesus” in the revival of Godspell, which followed his rave reviewed performance as “Usnavi” in In The Heights. Another stage highlight was Hairspray at the Hollywood Bowl, starring as “Seaweed” opposite Harvey Fierstein and Marissa Jaret Winokur. He was born in Brooklyn, NY and currently resides in Los Angeles with his soon-to-be wife, Sasha.
LORA LEE GAYER (Linda). Broadway: Tonia in Doctor Zhivago, Young Sally in Follies. Off-Broadway and regional: Mable in Pipe Dream at Encores!; Elektra in These Seven Sicknesses at EPBB; Millie in Bull Durham at The Alliance Theater; Philia in A Funny Thing… at the Shakespeare Theater Company (Helen Hayes nomination); Young Sally in Follies at the Kennedy Center and Ahmanson Theater; Gloria Thorpe in Damn Yankees at Goodspeed Theater; and Carrie in Carousel at The Virginia Opera Theater. Other regional: The Muny, Kansas City Starlight, Bay Street Theater. Recent NYC readings and workshops: King Kong (Anne), Romy and Michelle’s… (Christie), Bag of Nails (Suki), The New Yorkers (Alice Wentworth), Circus in Winter (Irene Hayden). Graduate of Interlochen Arts Academy and Carnegie Mellon University.
MEGAN LAWRENCE (Louise). Broadway: Hair (also West End), The Pajama Game (Tony nomination), Urinetown, Les Miserables. Off-Broadway: Two Gentlemen of Verona, Hair, Urinetown. Regional theatre: O. Henry’s Lovers, Over and Over, The Rhythm Club, Cabaret (Helen Hayes nomination), Into the Woods (Helen Hayes Award), Company (Helen Hayes nomination), Falsettos. Television: “One Life to Live.” Megan is a graduate of the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music.
MEGAN SIKORA (Lila Dixon) has been seen on and off Broadway in The Nance (Standby), Under My Skin (Nanette), Gentlemen Prefer Blondes at Encores! (Gloria), How To Succeed In Business (Miss Krumholtz), Promises, Promises (Miss Polanski, Sylvie, Turkey Lurkey), Curtains (Bambi / LA Ovation Nomination for Best Supporting Actress in a Musical), Applause at Encores! (Bonnie), Showboat at Carnegie Hall (Ellie), Wicked (u/s Glinda and Nessarose), Dracula (u/s Lucy and Mina), Wonderful Town, Thoroughly Modern Millie (Ruth), 42nd Street (Lorraine), and Andrew Lippa’s The Wild Party. Regional theatre: The Old Globe and Hartford Stage: Bianca/Lois in Kiss Me Kate; Papermill Playhouse: Claudine in Can Can, and Ado Annie in Oklahoma!; TUTS: Miss Shields in A Christmas Story; Marriott Lincolnshire: Sally Bowles in Cabaret; and toured as Adelaide in Guys and Dolls, and Judy in White Christmas. TV/ Film: “Braindead” coming to CBS this summer, “Elementary,” “Boardwalk Empire,” and “Important Things With Dimitre Martin,” and The Bleeder starring Liev Schreiber, premiering next year.
LEE WILKOF (Danny). Roundabout: She Loves Me, The Boys From Syracuse. Broadway: Breakfast at Tiffany’s, The Odd Couple, Democracy, Kiss Me, Kate (Drama Desk & Tony nominations), The Front Page, Sweet Charity. Other theater: The Present Tense (OBIE Award, Drama Desk nominations), Little Shop of Horrors (original cast), Assassins (original cast, Drama Desk nomination), The Iceman Cometh (Goodman, BAM), Mizlansky/Zilinsky or Schmucks (MTC), Chaucer In Rome (LCT), Grand Concourse (PH), June Moon, The Underpants, Slavs (Center Stage, Yale Rep), Wicked (National Tour), Williamstown Theater Festival (four seasons). Selected television: “High Maintenance,” “Alpha House,” “The West Wing,” “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” “Ally McBeal” (SAG Award), “Law & Order,” “Cop Rock,” “Max Headroom,” “Hart to Hart,” “Newhart,” “Delta House,” “The Gong Show,” “The Tonight Show.” Selected film: The Grey Zone, Listen Up Phillip, The School of Rock, Private Parts, Leaves of Grass, Before The Devil Knows You’re Dead, This Boy’s Life, Route 30 Trilogy, Dark Horse, The Entity, Xanadu. Lee directed the film No Pay, Nudity, which will be released later this year.
IRVING BERLIN (Music & Lyrics). Born Israel Beilin in a Russian Jewish shtetl in 1888, he died as Irving Berlin in his adopted hometown of New York City in 1989. Songwriter, performer, theatre owner, music publisher, and soldier, he wrote scores to more than a dozen Broadway musicals including Annie Get Your Gun, and dozens of Hollywood movie musicals. Holiday Inn follows White Christmas and the London production of Top Hat in creating stage musicals based on his famous films. His more than 1,200 songs include “White Christmas,” “Puttin’ on the Ritz,” “Easter Parade,” “Always,” “Blue Skies.” “Cheek to Cheek,” “There’s No Business Like Show Business,” “Alexander’s Ragtime Band,” and “God Bless America.” Irving Berlin’s love for and generosity to the USA is exemplified by his establishing the God Bless America Fund, into which he places all royalties from the song, which have been donated over the years to the Boy and Girl Scouts. His numerous awards and accolades include an Academy Award for White Christmas, a Congressional Gold Medal, a special Tony Award, and commemoration on a US postage stamp.
GORDON GREENBERG (Director/ Co-Book Writer) has directed plays and musicals at major theatres across America and the U.K. including Williamstown, Old Globe, Paper Mill, Signature, Goodspeed, Huntington, Dallas Theatre Center, Asolo, New York Stage & Film, and Chichester, written for television and stage, and runs the musical theatre program at The New Group. His acclaimed revival of Guys And Dolls opened on the West End at the Savoy Theatre in December 2015. He directed and adapted (with Stephen Schwartz and Lin-Manuel Miranda) the revised production of Working at the Old Globe and 59E59 in New York. Other work includes Johnny Baseball for Williamstown Theatre Festival, Scramble Band (writer), a Disney Channel original movie musical, Rags for Roundabout (workshop), Pirates! Or Gilbert and Sullivan Plunder’d (created with Nell Benjamin) for Paper Mill and Goodspeed, The Baker’s Wife (revised with Stephen Schwartz) for Goodspeed and Paper Mill, Disney’s Believe (created with Kirsten Childs) for Disney Creative, Disney Fantasy Christening (with Neil Patrick Harris & Jerry Seinfeld). Current projects include The Secret of My Success for Universal (Director/co-writer), Tangled for Disney (Director), The Single Girls Guide for the Fifth Avenue in Seattle (Writer), Port-Au-Prince (writing with Kirsten Childs for The New Group), and co-writing a new movie musical for Nickelodeon Television. Born in Texas and raised in New York, Greenberg performed in his first Broadway show at age 12. He attended Stanford University, R.A.D.A., and NYU Film School.
CHAD HODGE (Co-Book) created and executive-produced this summer’s FOX series “Wayward Pines” based on the novel by Blake Crouch, starring Academy Award nominee Matt Dillon and directed by M. Night Shyamalan. Hodge most recently created and wrapped production on the pilot of “Good Behavior” for TNT, starring Michelle Dockery. He created NBC’s “The Playboy Club” starring Laura Benanti, and The CW’s “Runaway” starring Donnie Wahlberg. Hodge grew up in Chicago and graduated magna cum laude from Northwestern University with degrees in Communication Studies and Business Institutions. Hodge co-wrote the book for the stage adaptation of Irving Berlin’s 1942 movie-musical classic Holiday Inn which starred Fred Astaire and Bing Crosby. Holiday Inn had its world premiere at the Goodspeed Opera House in 2014 where it became the longest-running musical in Goodspeed’s 51-year history and received the Connecticut Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Production of a Musical. Film projects include The Darkest Minds for 20th Century Fox, based on the New York Times bestselling trilogy by Alexandra Bracken, and Anita, about the notorious singer and orange juice spokeswoman Anita Bryant. Hodge lives in Los Angeles.
DENIS JONES (Choreographer). Recent credits include Honeymoon in Vegas (Broadway), Forum (Two River/ Williamstown Theatre Festival), Moonshine: That Hee Haw Musical (Dallas Theater Center), The Tempest (New York Shakespeare Festival) and Paint Your Wagon (NY City Center Encores!).
UNIVERSAL STAGE PRODUCTIONS (Associate Producer) is the live theatre division of the world-famous motion picture studio. Universal’s record-breaking musical phenomenon Wicked recently celebrated its twelfth smash-hit year on Broadway. With a national tour and multiple international productions, Wicked has been seen by more than 42 million people worldwide, making it one of the most successful theatrical ventures of all time. In 2008, Universal’s critically acclaimed musical adaptation of Billy Elliot opened on Broadway and went on to win ten Tony® Awards including Best Musical. Universal also produced the Tony®-nominated Broadway production of Bring It On: The Musical, the acclaimed revival of The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess, and is actively involved in the development of new work with many of the nation’s leading non-profit theatres.
Roundabout Theatre Company is committed to producing the highest quality theatre with the finest artists, sharing stories that endure, and providing accessibility to all audiences. A not-for-profit company, Roundabout fulfills its mission each season through the production of classic plays and musicals; development and production of new works by established and emerging writers; educational initiatives that enrich the lives of children and adults; and a subscription model and audience outreach programs that cultivate and engage all audiences.
Roundabout Theatre Company presents a variety of plays, musicals, and new works on its five stages, each of which is specifically designed to enhance the needs of Roundabout’s mission. Off-Broadway, the Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theatre, which houses the Laura Pels Theatre and Black Box Theatre, with its simple sophisticated design, is perfectly suited to showcasing new plays. The grandeur of its Broadway home on 42nd Street, American Airlines Theatre, sets the ideal stage for the classics. Roundabout’s Studio 54 provides an exciting and intimate Broadway venue for its musical and special event productions. The Stephen Sondheim Theatre offers a state of the art LEED certified Broadway theatre in which to stage major large-scale musical revivals. Together these distinctive homes serve to enhance Roundabout’s work on each of its stages.
American Airlines is the official airline of Roundabout Theatre Company. Roundabout productions are supported, in part, with public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, as well as the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.
Roundabout’s current 50th anniversary season in 2015-2016 includes Laura Benanti, Zachary Levi, Gavin Creel, Byron Jennings, Tom McGowan and Jane Krakowski in She Loves Me by Joe Masteroff, Sheldon Harnick and Jerry Bock, directed by Scott Ellis; Steven Pasquale in The Robber Bridegroom by Alfred Uhry and Robert Waldman, directed by Alex Timbers; Jessica Lange, Gabriel Byrne, Michael Shannon and John Gallagher, Jr. in Long Day’s Journey Into Night by Eugene O’Neill, directed by Jonathan Kent; and the national tour of Sam Mendes & Rob Marshall’s Tony Award-winning production of Cabaret.
Roundabout’s 2016-2017 season will include Holiday Inn, The New Irvin Berlin Musical by Gordon Greenberg and Chad Hodge, directed by Gordon Greenberg with music & lyrics by Irving Berlin; a new adaptation of The Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekhov, with a new adaption by Stephen Karam, directed by Simon Godwin, starring Diane Lane; Arthur Miller’s The Price, directed by Terry Kinney; Love, Love, Love by Mike Bartlett, directed by Michael Mayer; If I Forget by Steven Levenson and Napoli, Brooklyn by Meghan Kennedy. The 2016-2017 Roundabout Underground season includes Kingdom Come, a new play by Jenny Rachel Weiner.
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