FOUR WEEKS FROM TODAY, PEOPLE! Rehearsals for The Producers begin!
And here is your cast!
Working with Choreographer Brenda Didier (winner of a dozen Jeff Awards making her Paramount debut), Musical Director Tom Vendaffredo (Jeff Award for our Sweeney Todd) and Casting Director Trent Stork, we are blissed-out to announce our Ensemble: Miranda Borkin, Matt Casey, Jenna Coker-Jones, Bethany Christine Elkin, Erica Evans, Allyson Graves, Kaitlin Jempson, Christopher Kelley, Bernell Lassai, Ivory Leonard IV, Eben K. Logan, Nathan Mittleman, Jessica Palkovic, Brandon Pisano, Sara Reinecke, Jason Richards, Elena Rios, Haley Jane Schafer, Sawyer Smith, Anthony Sullivan Jr., Marco Tzunux, and J Tyler Witmer. (Smiling so hard typing their names!)
Ron Rains, who played a brilliant Herr Schultz in last season’s Cabaret, shall portray yet another, albeit ersatz German, Franz Liebkind with his “dirty, disgusting, filthy, lice-ridden boids.” Like me, you may be an admirer of Ron’s work from Chicago Shakes to Goodman, from Steppenwolf to Drury Lane, but believe me, you’ve never seen him like this! Adam Fane returns for his fifth Paramount show as quirky, eccentric Carmen Ghia, the “common law assistant” to our story’s Broadway director Roger De Bris who will be played by inimitable Sean Blake. Sean’s a Jeff winner who’s toured nationally in Hal Prince’s Showboat and will be making a Paramount debut I promise you, you will never forget! (You’ll see what I mean by that when you’re here). Stunning Elyse Collier, having starred in the national tour of Nice Work if You Can Get It, brings her considerable song and dance charms to the eye-popping va-va-va-voom of Swedish knock-out Ulla Inga Hansen Bensen Yonsen Tallen-Hallen Svaden-Svanson. (We’ll just call her, “Ulla.”) Out of the ensemble of three Paramount shows (Elf, The Little Mermaid, Mamma Mia!) emerges Jake Morrissy co-starring as Leo Bloom! Jake won the part competing with the best there is of Chicago actors and I couldn’t be more proud of his rising star here at Paramount! And now my heart swells to announce, dear reader, in his return to Chicago theatre, Blake Hammond starring as Max Bialystock! It’s been years since Blake left to audition in New York and never came back! Until now! I’ve lost track of all the Broadway shows he’s done, looked them up, and here’s what I found: Living on Love, First Date, Sister Act, Elf, Billy Elliot, The Lion King, Hairspray, The Music Man, Kiss Me Kate, and On The Town…he’s a Broadway Baby!
Don’t miss this comic extravaganza by living legend Mel Brooks which holds the distinction of winning the most Tony Awards in Broadway history (12 big ones!) and breaking all box office records at the same time! And if you haven’t seen The Wizard of Oz, well, what are you waiting for? Get in the holiday spirit and come to Paramount with family and friends and while you’re at it do yourself a favor and become a subscriber before the show closes January 6!
Love & thanks,
Jim