The La Jolla Playhouse production of Freaky Friday officially opens February 3 following previews that began January 31 in San Diego. Starring as the mother and daughter who swap bodies for a day are Heidi Blickenstaff and Emma Hunton, respectively, reprising their roles from the world-premiere staging last fall.
Playhouse artistic director Christopher Ashley, who directed Blickenstaff and Hunton in the debut staging at the Signature Theatre in Virginia, returns to direct at La Jolla. The engagement is scheduled to run through March 12 in the Mandell Weiss Theatre.
Developed by Disney Theatrical Productions, Freaky Friday features a book by Bridget Carpenter (Friday Night Lights, Parenthood) and music and lyrics by the Tony Award- and Pulitzer Prize-winning team of Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey (Next to Normal, If/Then).
Completing the cast at La Jolla are Noah Baird, Katie Banville, Jeannette Bayardelle, Eean Cochran, Joseph Dellger, Jessie Hooker, David Jennings, Storm Lever, Mary Jo Mcconnell, Jake Heston Miller, Tony Neidenbach, Jennafer Newberry, Chris Ramirez, Julian Ramos, Jermaine R. Rembert, Alet Taylor, Jason Sweettooth Williams, and Sumi Yu.
The creative team is made up of music director Andrew Graham, music supervisor Bryan Perri, scenic designer Beowulf Boritt, costume designer Emily Rebholz, lighting designer Howell Binkley, sound designers Kai Harada and Brian Ronan, hair and makeup designer Leah Loukas, dramaturg Shirley Fishman, stage manager Paul J. Smith, assistant stage managers Julianne Menassian and Amanda Nussbaum, and production manager Benjamin Seibert. Co-orchestrations are by Michael Starobin and Kitt, co-vocal arrangements are by Carmel Dean and Kitt, dance and incidental arrangements are by Kitt, and casting is by Eric Woodall, C.S.A./Tara Rubin Casting.
Here’s how the show is billed: “When an overworked mother and her teenage daughter magically swap bodies, they have just one day to put things right again before mom’s big wedding. Freaky Friday, a new musical comedy based on the celebrated novel by Mary Rodgers and the hit Disney films, is a hilarious, contemporary update of an American classic in which a mother and daughter really see what it is to be a family and experience each other’s lives first-hand, if only for a day.”
The world premiere of Freaky Friday began performances October 4, 2016, at the Signature Theatre’s MAX Theatre in Arlington, VA, where it played through November 20.
For tickets and more information visit LaJollaPlayhouse.org.
