Pittsburgh Public Theater is giving wing to the musical about commedia dell'arte theatre troupers in Renaissance Italy. Previews begin April 19 at PPT's O'Reilly Theater.

Graciela Daniele (Ragtime, Once on This Island, Annie Get Your Gun) directs and choreographs the seven-actor musical based on the novel by Francine Prose.

Tony Award winner Ahrens gets book and lyric credit, while Tony Award winner Flaherty pens the music. The duo are also know for Lucky Stiff, Once On This Island, My Favorite Year, Dessa Rose and A Man of No Importance. Ragtime earned the writers 1998 Tony Award for Best Musical Score.

Natalie Belcon (Avenue Q) will play Columbina, John Kassir will play Dottore, David Patrick Kelly (Festen) will play Pantalone, Jenny Powers (Little Women) will play Isabella Andreini, Paul Schoeffler (Sweet Charity) will play Flaminio Scala, Julyana Soelistyo (a 1998 Tony nominee for Golden Child) will play Armanda Ragusa, and Jeremy Webb (Off-Broadway's Tabletop and The Baltimore Waltz) will play Francesco Andreini.

The Public's producing artistic director, Ted Pappas, said of The Glorious Ones, "It's funny, sexy and exciting. It's a paean to artists and, essentially, a backstage musical. It’s about actors—their art, egos, romances and adventures. It takes place in 17th-century Italy. But honestly, have actors changed all that much in 400 years?" The creative team also includes Thomas Murray (musical director), Daniel S. Ostling (scenic designer), Mara Blumenfeld (costume designer), Stephen Strawbridge (lighting designer), Michael Starobin (orchestrator), Zach Moore (sound designer), Stanczyk Cherpakov (casting), Nevin Hedley (production stage manager), Fredric H. Orner (assistant stage manager) and Madeleine Kelly (assistant to the director/choreographer).

Opening is April 27. The run continues to May 20.

For tickets and further information, call (412) 316-1600, or visit ppt.org or the Public's box office at the O'Reilly Theater, 621 Penn Avenue, Downtown in the heart of the Cultural District.