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Ana Gasteyer Joins Cast of New Musical Writing Arthur
By Ernio Hernandez
09 Apr 2007
Stage and screen star Ana Gasteyer has joined the cast of the new musical, Writing Arthur, for the 2007 New Works Festival for TheatreWorks in California, April 14-22.
The work by David Austin is produced in partnership with Roy Miller (The Drowsy Chaperone) and Jennifer Maloney (Spring Awakening). Maloney is also credited with story development.
Gasteyer (Wicked, The Threepenny Opera, "Saturday Night Live") will star opposite Tim Ewing (Mamma Mia!) — who plays the title character. Eric Ankrim, David Austin, Anne Buelteman, David Curley, Kathryn Foley, Karen Thomson Hall, Heather Hawkins, Michele Gray, Kristin Stokes, Colin Thomson and Jake Williams also appear in the ensemble.
The sixth annual festival will feature first-time staged readings of the new musicals Writing Arthur and The Burnt Part Boys as well as the new plays These Shining Lives and Equivocation.
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The works scheduled to play the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts' Second Stage follow:
Writing Arthur (April 14, 7 PM; April 19, 7:30 PM; April 22, 12 PM)
Music, lyrics, and book by David Austin
Story development by Jennifer Maloney
Maloney directs the new work billed as "a fantastical musical adventure" which follows the title character who "lives a secret double life... behind the locked doors of his bookstore. There, amidst the songs of an ancient Irish village, he escapes into the fantasy world of a novel he has been writing since childhood. When reality intrudes and his worlds unravel, Arthur must find the courage to put down the pen and finally start to live."
These Shining Lives by Melanie Marnich (April 15, 7:30 PM; April 17, 7 PM)
Kent Nicholson directs the 1920s Chicago-set drama inspired by a true story which "pits industrial might against four fiercely determined friends who launch a very public battle against the devastating effects of corporate greed."
Equivocation by Bill Cain (April 20, 7:30 PM; April 22, 8 PM)
Nicholson also stages this play tribute to the Bard from Boston Shakespeare Company founder. "Will Shakespeare [is] in a bind. The actors are butchering Lear, his daughter wants attention, and the government is demanding a 'play of the week' about the terrorist attack on Parliament. And what about those witches King James would have in every scene? Conspiracy or fabrication? Catholic or Protestant? Revenge or justice? As Shakespeare struggles to unravel 'the gunpowder plot,' the truth becomes increasingly elusive."
The Burnt Part Boys (April 21, 7:30 PM; April 22, 4 PM)
Book by Mariana Elder
Music by Chris Miller
Lyrics by Nathan Tysen
Robert Kelley directs this "coming of age musical" set in West Virginia's "rugged coal country in the 1960's. In the wake of a devastating mining accident, a group of teenage friends must redefine their lives. As the long-shuttered mine reopens, they embark on a coming-of-age-journey that transforms their sheltered worlds and their fragile dreams for the future."
The 2007 New Works Festival — which seeks out new material, and serves as a collaborative matchmaker for writers and composers — is presented by TheatreWorks' New Works Initiative. Among the works that have been developed through the company include Paul Gordon's Emma, Tanya Shaffer's Baby Taj, GrooveLily's Striking 12 Joe DiPietro and David Bryan's Memphis as well as Stephen Schwartz and Scott Schwartz's My Ántonia.
Tickets to the festival at the Second Stage, 500 Castro Street in Mountain View, CA are available by calling (650) 903-6000 or online at www.theatreworks.org.
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