Pride & Prejudice, A Musical Play will feature a 17-piece orchestra and a cast filled with Broadway actors, including the previously announced Colin Donnell (Jersey Boys) as Mr. Darcy and Sweeney Todd and Hollywood Arms actress Donna Lynne Champlin as Jane Austen.
Newcomers to the company include Laura Osnes (Grease) as Elizabeth (Lizzy) Bennet, Juliana Ashley Hansen as Jane Bennet, Mark Blum and Patty Goble as the parents of the five Bennet daughters, Anne Letscher as Mary Bennet, Molly Ranson as Kitty Bennet, Jacque Carnahan as Lydia Bennet, Jim Stanek as Mr. Collins, John Behlmann as Mr. Wickham, Rory O'Malley as Charles Bingley and Jennifer Waiser as Charlotte Lucas. (Patty Goble will also play the role of Lady Catherine.)
The ensemble will comprise Sarah Dacey Charles, Jonathan Michie, Kat Palardy, Jon Reinhold, Matthew Schneider, Michael Scott, Libby Servais, Eric Ulloa and Marguerite Willbanks.
The Rochester venue is an appropriate choice for Pride & Prejudice: The musical was penned by two Rochester natives, Lindsay Warren Baker and Amanda Jacobs. Mark Lamos (Our Country's Good, Seascape, The Rivals) directs with musical direction by Fred Lassen.
The creative team will also include set designer Mikiko Suzuki MacAdams, lighting designer Dale Knoth, costume designer Lynn Bowling and sound designer Scott Stauffer. Pride & Prejudice, A Musical Play has been optioned for a Broadway production by Lori Bajorek, also a Rochester native. Executive producer is Donald C. Farber. The musical is aiming for a Broadway opening in November 2009.
In a statement producer Bajorek said, "We really want Rochester to 'own' this show from the start. This is 'Rochester's Musical,' and we want the whole community to come with us to Broadway!"
A reading of Pride & Prejudice — which combines the world of the Bennet family in "Pride and Prejudice" with the world of Austen as she writes the novel — was presented in Manhattan in August 2007. "Jane Austen," according to previous production notes, "brings to life the world of 'Pride & Prejudice' through her writing process. She creates the classic love story of Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy before our eyes for us to fall in love with all over again. . . . It is a story of love — the love an author has for her characters and the love the characters have for one another." That reading was also directed by Mark Lamos.
Tickets, priced $35-$75, for the 7:30 PM concert are available by calling (585) 232-1900 or by visiting www.tickemaster.com.
For more information about the musical, visit www.prideandprejudicebroadway.com.
