FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CASTING UPDATE January 29, 2013 Contact: Katherine E. Johnson (212) 875-5718; [email protected] SHULER HENSLEY, JASON DANIELEY, JESSIE MUELLER, KATE BURTON, and JOHN CULLUM TO JOIN CAST OF THE NEW YORK PHILHARMONIC’S PRESENTATION OF RODGERS & HAMMERSTEIN’S CAROUSEL February 27–March 2 Previously Announced Cast Includes KELLI O’HARA, NATHAN GUNN, and STEPHANIE BLYTHE Conducted by ROB FISHER Directed by JOHN RANDO Choreographed by WARREN CARLYLE Production To Be Nationally Telecast on Live From Lincoln Center The New York Philharmonic has announced several additions to the cast of its production of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Carousel, February 27–March 2, 2013: Shuler Hensley will portray Jigger Craigin, Jason Danieley will portray Enoch Snow (replacing the previously announced Alexander Gemignani, who has withdrawn due to scheduling conflicts), Jessie Mueller will portray Carrie Pipperidge, Kate Burton will portray Mrs. Mullin, and John Cullum will portray Starkeeper/Dr. Seldon. As previously announced, Carousel will star Kelli O’Hara as Julie Jordan, Nathan Gunn as Billy Bigelow, and Stephanie Blythe as Nettie Fowler. The production will be directed by John Rando, conducted by Rob Fisher, and choreographed by Warren Carlyle. The production’s cast and creative team have earned a combined total of 16 Tony Awards and 32 Tony nominations. The New York Philharmonic’s production of Carousel will be telecast nationally on Live From Lincoln Center, hosted by Audra McDonald, on PBS stations Friday, April 26, 2013, at 9:00 p.m. (check local listings). Carousel is based on Hungarian playwright Ferenc Molnár’s 1909 play, Liliom, but transfers the story from Europe to the Maine coastline. The musical, which revolves around the tragic romance between carousel barker Billy Bigelow and mill worker Julie Jordan, includes such highlights as “If I Loved You,” “June Is Bustin’ Out All Over,” and “You’ll Never Walk Alone.” The New York Philharmonic has performed selections from Carousel on various programs since (more) Carousel Casting Update / 2 1946, most recently in March 2011 when Ted Sperling conducted Ms. O’Hara, Mr. Gunn, and the Orchestra in Classic Broadway, an evening of Broadway selections that included “If I Loved You” and the Carousel Waltz. Artists Rob Fisher — internationally distinguished artistic director, conductor, and pianist — is a leading figure in American music and musical theater. He was founding music director and conductor of Encores! at New York City Center until 2005, a series that earned a 2000 Tony Award. Mr. Fisher was awarded the Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Special Achievement in 1997 for his work on Encores!, and he conducted the series’ Grammy Award–winning Chicago cast album. Last season, Fisher served as music supervisor of the Tony-winning Broadway revival of Anything Goes, and in April of 2012, he conducted a one-night gala performance of The Sound of Music at Carnegie Hall. Mr. Fisher has been producer/music director of Lincoln Center’s American Songbook Series’ tributes to Gershwin, Porter, and Bernstein. Recent collaborations have included performances with such artists as Kristin Chenoweth, Kelli O’Hara, Idina Menzel, and David Hyde Pierce. Within the past decade Mr. Fisher has been a guest conductor or pianist of virtually every major orchestra in the U.S. In 2007 he led My Fair Lady with the New York Philharmonic, and he most recently appeared with the Philharmonic in October 2012, conducting Mr. Keillor at 70 with Garrison Keillor. Mr. Fisher was music director and conductor for “Ira at 100,” a gala concert at Carnegie Hall broadcast on PBS’s Great Performances, and he appeared twice on the PBS series In Performance at the White House for President and Mrs. Clinton. For four seasons Mr. Fisher was music director for Garrison Keillor’s American Radio Company and remains a frequent guest on A Prairie Home Companion. John Rando is the Tony and Outer Critic’s Circle Award–winning director of Urinetown: The Musical. Mr. Rando’s other Broadway credits include A Christmas Story: The Musical, The Wedding Singer, A Thousand Clowns, and Neil Simon’s The Dinner Party. With City Center Encores!, he has directed Bernstein’s On The Town, Damn Yankees, Face the Music, Of Thee I Sing, The Pajama Game, Do Re Mi, and Strike up the Band. Last winter his production of A Christmas Story: The Musical garnered terrific success in Chicago at the Chicago Theater. His Off-Broadway credits include the 2009 Outer Critic’s Circle Award–winner for Best Musical: The Toxic Avenger, as well as productions at the Roundabout Theatre Company, Manhattan Class Company, Manhattan Theatre Club, Primary Stages, the Promenade, the Acting Company, and the Pearl Theatre, among others. Mr. Rando’s recent regional credits include his highly acclaimed production of Guys and Dolls at Barrington Stage Company and a revised version of The Toxic Avenger at the Alley theatre. His other extensive regional credits include productions at The Old Globe Theater, Mark Taper Forum, Geffen Playhouse, American Conservatory Theatre, The Williamstown Theatre Festival, The Philadelphia Theatre Company, Berkshire Theatre Festival, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Cleveland Playhouse, Syracuse Stage, and many others. John Rando was a Drama League Directing Fellow and in 2010 was the recipient of the UCLA Department of Theater, Film, and Television Alumni Achievement Award. (more) Carousel Casting Update / 3 Choreographer Warren Carlyle most recently directed and choreographed Chaplin at the Barrymore Theater and the hit show Hugh Jackman: Back on Broadway at the Broadhurst Theater. He also choreographed The Mystery of Edwin Drood (Studio 54), A Christmas Story (Lunt Fontanne), and the recent Broadway revival of Stephen Sondheim’s Follies at the Marriot Marquis Theater. Mr. Carlyle directed and choreographed the critically acclaimed, Tony- nominated Broadway revival of Finian’s Rainbow at the St. James Theater, A Tale of Two Cities on Broadway at the Al Hirschfeld Theater, and the Broadway-bound Cotton Club Parade (Jazz at Lincoln Center and City Center). Also in New York, he choreographed Girl Crazy, On the Town, Finian’s Rainbow, Juno, and Stairway to Paradise (all for City Center Encores!); 101 Dalmatians (Madison Square Garden/Tour); You Again (New York Fringe Festival); Working (Zipper Theater); Slut! (ATA); Roundabout 40th Anniversary Gala (The Public Theater); and The 24-Hour Musicals (The Public Theater). Mr. Carlyle produced, directed, and choreographed the tour of Hugh Jackman in Performance (Curran Theater San Francisco, Toronto’s Princess of Wales Theater); created the musical staging for the new Randy Newman revue Harps & Angels (Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles); directed and choreographed the award-winning Limelight (La Jolla Playhouse), Buddy’s Tavern (O’Neill Theater Center; Richard Rodgers Award Winner), and Lucky Guy (Goodspeed); and choreographed Follies (Kennedy Center and Ahmanson Theater in Los Angeles), Camelot (Stratford Shakespeare Festival Canada), A Christmas Story (U.S. tour), Mame (Kennedy Center), Dancing in the Dark (Old Globe Theater, San Diego), The Pirates of Penzance (Paper Mill Playhouse, Goodspeed; CT Critics Circle Award for Best Choreography), The Bakers Wife (Goodspeed), and Pageant (Second City Chicago). He is represented on film and television by Deception starring Hugh Jackman, Hope and Faith, An Evening at the Boston Pops, and Elton John’s Made in England music video. Kelli O’Hara (Julie Jordan) has established herself as one of Broadway’s great leading ladies. She currently stars in the ten-time Tony-nominated Broadway musical Nice Work If You Can Get It opposite Matthew Broderick, for which she received her fourth Tony nomination for Lead Actress in a Musical. Ms. O’Hara garnered rave reviews for her recent role as Cathy Whitaker in the musical adaptation of Far From Heaven at Williamstown Theater Festival. She earned her first Tony and Drama Desk Award nominations for her role in The Light in the Piazza in 2005. In 2006 she joined Harry Connick, Jr. on Broadway in the Tony-winning production of The Pajama Game and received Tony, Drama Desk, and Outer Critics Award nominations. Ms. O’Hara starred in the Tony-winning revival of South Pacific at Lincoln Center, garnering Tony and Drama Desk nominations. In 2011 Ms. O’Hara made her Public Theater debut in King Lear and in 2010 starred as Ella Peterson in City Center Encores!’ production of Bells Are Ringing. In addition to her critically acclaimed performance as Eliza Doolittle in the New York Philharmonic production of My Fair Lady, Ms. O’Hara has performed at Carnegie Hall with the New York Pops, at the Kennedy Center and the National Symphony Orchestra with Marvin Hamlisch, and with the Boston Pops under Keith Lockhart. She has performed three times at the Kennedy Center Honors, in tributes for Barbara Cook, Jerry Herman, and Barbra Streisand. Her film and television credits include Sex and the City 2, Blue Bloods, The Key to Reserva, The Dying Gaul, Alexander Hamilton, NUMB3RS, All My Children, and the animated series Car Talk. Ms. O’Hara’s voice can be heard on numerous cast recordings, and her two solo albums, (more) Carousel Casting Update / 4 Always and Wonder in the World, are currently available on Ghostlight Records. Following this special engagement, Ms. O’Hara will return to Nice Work If You Can Get It at the Imperial Theatre on Sunday, March 3. Nathan Gunn (Billy Bigelow) has sung leading lyric baritone roles at The Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Paris Opéra, Theatre an der Wien, and Bavarian Staatsoper. He created the roles of Clyde Griffiths in Tobias Picker’s An American Tragedy, Father Delura in Peter Eötvös’s Love and Other Demons, Alec Harvey in André Previn’s Brief Encounter, and Paul in Daron Hagen’s Amelia.