Directed by two-time Tony Award nominee Alex Timbers (Rocky, Peter and the Starcatcher, Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson), the musical is conceived and adapted by Michael Kimmel. Previews began Sept. 22 in San Diego. The musical officially opened there Oct. 6.
Tony Award-winning producer Hal Luftig (Kinky Boots, Evita, Legally Blonde), who is attached to the project, said that the creative team will gather in New York City following the Old Globe run to discuss what worked and didn't work in San Diego. "My guess is gonna be we're going to go somewhere else before we just jump on Broadway," he said.
The Last Goodbye runs through Nov. 3 at the Old Globe.
The cast features Jay Armstrong Johnson as Romeo and Talisa Friedman as Juliet. Armstrong's stage credits include Hands on a Hardbody, Catch Me If You Can and Hair. Friedman has performed in Ah, Wilderness!; The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie; The Bardy Bunch; and Donnie Darko.
"The Last Goodbye is a new musical fusing Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet with some of the most thrilling rock music of the past 20 years," press notes state. "That light in yonder window is still the east and Juliet is still the sun...but the sound in her bedchamber is all new: the sweeping, emotional and extraordinarily beautiful songs of the late rock icon Jeff Buckley." Read Playbill.com's feature with Timbers and the stars of the musical.
The cast also features Hale Appleman (Mercutio), Stephen Bogardus (Friar Lawrence), Nancy Snow Carr (Lady Montague), Shannon Cochran (Lady Capulet), Brandon Gill (Benvolio), Bryan Scott Johnson (Montague), Eric Morris (Paris), Daniel Oreskes (Capulet), Tonye Patano (Nurse), Wallace Smith (Prince Escalus) and Jeremy Woodard (Tybalt) with James Brown III, Billy Bustamante, Drew Foster, Adam Perry, Steve Schepis and Nik Walker (Ensemble), Megan Carmitchel (Offstage Singer) and Bradley Gibson (Swing).
The creative team includes Christopher Barreca (scenic design), Jennifer Moeller (costume design), Justin Townsend (lighting design), Ken Travis (sound design), Ian Hersey (text consultant), Kate Waters (fight director), Jacob Grigolia-Rosenbaum (associate fight director), Carrie Gardner, CSA (casting) and Peter Lawrence (stage manager).
The Last Goodbye features choreography by Emmy Award nominee Sonya Tayeh ("So You Think You Can Dance") and orchestrations, music direction and arrangements by Kris Kukul.
Tickets can be purchased online at TheOldGlobe.org, by phone at (619) 23-GLOBE or by visiting the Box Office at 1363 Old Globe Way in Balboa Park.
