Sally Mayes, Leo Burmester, Jodi Stevens, Rozz Morehead and Matt Chait have been added to the cast of the Broadway bound musical Urban Cowboy, which will have an out-of-town premiere at the Coconut Grove Playhouse in Florida in November.
As previously announced, newcomers Matt Cavenaugh and Jenn Colella will play the leads of Bud and Sissy. Lonny Price, who co-wrote, staged and starred in Broadway's A Class Act, will direct. Price steps in after the death of original director and co-librettist Phillip Oesterman.
Oesterman, 64, was found dead in his home in Ft. Myers, FL, the morning of July 30. A heart attack was later given as the cause of death. He co-wrote the Urban Cowboy libretto with Aaron Latham, screenwriter of the 1980 film of the same name. The show will use songs made famous in the film of the same name, plus offer interpolations.
Price's other directing credits include an Off Broadway revival of The Rothschilds and The Matchmaker at the Roundabout Theatre Company. He also directed the 2000 production of Finian's Rainbow which toured the U.S. but failed to come into New York. On stage he has acted in Falsettos and Merrily We Roll Along (in a performance preserved on the cherished-by-fans cast album). He also appeared in the Broadway musical, Rags.
Burmester, who plays Uncle Bob, has appeared on Broadway in Les Misèrables, Big River and Thou Shalt Not. Sally Mayes (Aunt Corene) was on Broadway in Welcome to the Club and She Loves Me (she was Tony-nommed for the latter). * The new stage musical production of the 1980 film has its premiere at the Coconut Grove Playhouse, Nov. 5-Dec. 1, with an opening on Nov. 15.
"The story takes place in Gilley's bar, the evening watering hole of the newly prosperous rig workers during the oil boom of the '70s," according to the Coconut Grove announcement. "It's a place rife with lots of laughs, personal drama and sexual tension — and as the song depicts — it's the place where everyone goes 'Lookin' For Love.'"
Songs in the show include "Could I Have This Dance," "Orange Blossom Express" and "The Devil Went Down to Georgia." The original soundtrack went triple platinum.
