Far From Heaven, directed by Tony nominee Michael Greif (Grey Gardens, Rent, Next to Normal), arrives in New York following a developmental premiere at the Williamstown Theatre Festival last summer. It is based on Todd Haynes' 1950s-set film about the unraveling of a Connecticut couple's shadow-filled marriage.
The musical by Tony Award-nominated Grey Gardens songwriters Michael Korie and Scott Frankel and Take Me Out Tony Award winner Richard Greenberg began previews May 8 and will officially open June 2 for a run through June 30.
Playwrights Horizons is also where Korie and Frankel's Grey Gardens premiered prior to its Tony Award-nominated Broadway transfer. Extensions of the Off-Broadway production of Far From Heaven could prove to be complicated, with leading lady Kelli O'Hara currently expecting her second child later this summer.
Determined theatregoers shouldn't give up hope. Representatives state that ticket buyers should check in for possible ticket releases for performances throughout the run. Four-time Tony Award nominee O'Hara (South Pacific, The Light in the Piazza) and Steven Pasquale (A Man of No Importance, Intelligent Homosexual's Guide) star as Cathy and Frank Whitaker, respectively. They created their roles for the show at Williamstown.
In the show, according to PH, "Cathy Whitaker (O'Hara) seems to be the picture-perfect wife and mother in 1957 suburban Connecticut. But roiling beneath the surface, secret longings and forbidden desires cause her world to unravel, with incendiary consequences. With a lush score that is both jazz-inflected and hauntingly lyrical, Far From Heaven is a powerful story of romance, betrayal and intolerance, as a woman grapples with her identity in a society on the verge of upheaval."
The full cast, which welcomes back much of the original Williamstown company, includes J.B. Adams (Parade, Beauty & the Beast, Me & My Girl on Broadway; Annie Warbucks Off-Broadway; the film "Far From Heaven"), Marinda Anderson (From the Inside, Out at NY Fringe Festival; Freedom Train for TheatreWorks USA), Olivier Award nominee Nancy Anderson (Wonderful Town, A Class Act on Broadway; Kiss Me, Kate in London; Yank! Off-Broadway), Elainey Bass (Radio City Christmas Spectacular), Obie Award winner Quincy Tyler Bernstine (In the Next Room on Broadway; Ruined at MTC), Justin Scott Brown (Les Misérables, Spring Awakening national tours), Obie Award winner Alma Cuervo (PH's The Heidi Chronicles and Isn't It Romantic?; Titanic, Cabaret, Women on the Verge… on Broadway), Korey Jackson (Wild with Happy at The Public; "Homeland"), Isaiah Johnson (Peter and the Starcatcher; The Merchant of Venice on Broadway), Jake Lucas (Newsies), James Moye (Million Dollar Quartet, Ragtime, White Christmas on Broadway; Happiness Off-Broadway), Julianna Rigoglioso (Pippi Longstocking Off-Broadway; Mary Poppins national tour), Sarah Jane Shanks (Wicked, Promises Promises, Shrek, Wonderful Town, The Apple Tree on Broadway), Tess Soltau (The Addams Family on Broadway; Into the Woods for The Public/Shakespeare in the Park), Mary Stout (Cather County at PH; Jane Eyre, Beauty & the Beast, Me & My Girl on Broadway) and Victor Wallace (Mamma Mia! on Broadway, Les Misérables and The Phantom of the Opera national tours).
Far From Heaven was commissioned, developed and produced through the Playwrights Horizons Musicals in Partnership Initiative, with leadership support from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
The musical has scenic design by Tony Award nominee Allen Moyer, costume design by five-time Tony Award winner Catherine Zuber, lighting design by Tony Award winner Kenneth Posner, sound design by Nevin Steinberg, projection design by Peter Nigrini and orchestrations by Tony Award winner Bruce Coughlin. Musical director is Lawrence Yurman and production stage manager is Judith Schoenfeld. Alex Sanchez is the choreographer.
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