Jay O. Sanders will play the central role of Falstaff. Harriett Foy is Miss Quickly, Dan Sharkey will be Mr. George Page and Kevin Bernard plays Lucas. The roles of Mrs. Margaret Ann Page and Consuela are yet to be cast. As previously announced, Gary Sandy, of "WKRP in Cincinnati" fame, also stars.
The show will be staged at the Cooper Cohen Amas Musical Theatre. Opening is set for Dec. 8, Associated Press reported. The show is directed by Michael Bogdanov. Randy Skinner is choreographer.
Also in the cast are Beth Leavel as Mrs. Aggie Ford, Tracee Beazer (one of the Dynamites from Hairspray) as Grace; Gary Bristol as host of the Garter Saloon; Peter Connelly as Chester; Stacey Harris as Caitlin; Drew McVety as Doctor Caius; Emily Mikesell as Miss Libby; Nick Sullivan as Sheriff Bob Shallow; Clarke Thorell (the original Corny Collins in Hairspray) as Fenton; Julie Tolivar as Miss Anne Page; Brandon Williams as Abraham Slender; and the Red Clay Ramblers - Clay Buckner as Nym, Chris Frank as Bardolph, and Jack Herrick as Pistol.
Lone Star Love was conceived and adapted from the Bard by librettist John L. Haber. It has music and lyrics by Tony winner (and Red Clay Rambers alumnus) Jack Herrick (Fool Moon, Kudzu). In the play, ex Confederate colonel John Falstaff and his merry men charm their way into the lives of two wealthy rancher's wives. Sandy plays Frank Ford, one of the husbands of those wives. In a romantic subplot, one of the rancher's daughters is being pursued by several suitors including a yodeling cowboy named Fenton.
The production has contributions from Bland Simpson, Tommy Thompson and director Michael Bogdanov, who has been with the project since helming two developmental NYC workshops — backed by the Dodgers and the Kennedy Center — in 1996 and 1999. Prior to that, Lone Star Love started at the Alley Theatre in Houston in 1988, followed by a regional staging in 1989 at Repertory Theatre of St. Louis. Then Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park staged the tuner in 1994. Lone Star Love arrived at Cleveland's Great Lakes Theatre Festival Oct. 18-Nov. 4, 2001.
"It's a cowboy Western, with music not normally what you hear on Broadway," Haber told PBOL in 2000. "Very eclectic, with a vast array of American sounds."
