Gavin Creel Will Join Jane Krakowski, Kelli O’Hara for Starry She Loves Me Benefit Concert | Playbill

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News Gavin Creel Will Join Jane Krakowski, Kelli O’Hara for Starry She Loves Me Benefit Concert Casting is now complete for Roundabout Theatre Company's Dec. 5 benefit concert performance of She Loves Me, a title that ushered in Roundabout Theatre Company's expanded mission to include musicals back in 1993.

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Gavin Creel

The 7:30 PM performance at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre will feature Gavin Creel as Steven Kodaly (Creel replaces the previously announced Cheyenne Jackson), Tony Award winner Jane Krakowski as Ilona Ritter, three-time Tony nominee Kelli O’Hara as Amalia Balas, Josh Radnor as Georg, Peter Bartlett as Headwaiter, Tony nominee Michael McGrath as Ladislav Sipos, Tony nominee Rory O’Malley as Arpad Laszlo and four-time Tony nominee Victor Garber as Mr. Maraczek with Jane Brockman, Rachel de Benedet, Rebecca Eichenberger, Gina Ferrall, Rob Lorey, Jeffrey Schecter, Jessica Vosk and Jim Walton.

Scott Ellis (Twelve Angry Men, Curtains) will again direct the romantic musical comedy by Joe Masteroff (book), Jerry Bock (music) and Sheldon Harnick (lyrics). Paul Gemignani, a regular Roundabout artist, will serve as musical director of a 15-member orchestra using the original orchestrations of Don Walker.

Musical staging will be by JoAnn M. Hunter. The design team includes Derek McLane (sets), Jeff Mahshie (costumes), Peter Kaczorowski (lights) and Brian Ronan (sound).

Proceeds from the concert benefit not-for-profit Roundabout Theatre Company and all its programs and activities.

According to Roundabout notes, the 1963 musical "follows Amalia (O'Hara) and Georg (Radnor), two feuding clerks in a European parfumerie during the 1930s who secretly find solace in their anonymous romantic pen pals, little knowing their respective correspondents are actually each other." The charm-bomb score by Bock & Harnick includes "Dear Friend," "I Resolve," "Tonight at Eight," "Will He Like Me?," "Vanilla Ice Cream," "Days Gones By," "Grand Knowing You," "Try Me" and the title song, among other tunes. Barbara Cook originally played Amalia, and her soprano was preserved on an original cast album. Harold Prince directed and produced the original production, which was nominated for a 1964 Tony as Best Musical.

The She Loves Me evening is billed as a celebration of Roundabout's 20th anniversary of producing on Broadway, which began in 1991 at the Criterion Center in Times Square. Roundabout's 1993 Broadway revival of She Loves Me began life at the Criterion Center and launched Roundabout's Musical Theatre program.

The production (which also spawned a cast album, featuring replacement Diane Fratantoni as Amalia) was nominated for nine Tony Awards including Best Revival of a Musical, Best Director and Best Choreography (Rob Marshall) and the four major acting awards. It also won the 1994 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Musical Revival.

With She Loves Me, Roundabout began the process of becoming a major producer of Broadway revivals, including Cabaret, 1776, Nine, Assassins, The Pajama Game, Sunday in the Park with George and the current 2011 Tony Award-winning production of Anything Goes.

 

VIP, Premium and Reception tickets (ranging $1,000-$5,000 per person), which include admission to an exclusive cast party following the performance, are available. The co-chairs for the evening are Roundabout board member Michael T. Cohen and Amanda and Gary Wolf.

Tax-deductible benefit tickets are now available by calling Roundabout's Development Office at (212) 719-9393.

Select orchestra and mezzanine tickets ($150-$500) are available to the general public by calling Roundabout Ticket Services at (212) 719-1300, visiting any Roundabout box office (Stephen Sondheim Theatre, American Airlines Theatre or the Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theatre) or online at www.roundabouttheatre.org.

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Roundabout Theatre Company is a not-for-profit theatre "dedicated to providing a nurturing artistic home for theatre artists at all stages of their careers where the widest possible audience can experience their work at affordable prices." Roundabout fulfills its mission each season "through the revival of classic plays and musicals; development and production of new works by established playwrights and emerging writers; educational initiatives that enrich the lives of children and adults; and a subscription model and audience outreach programs that cultivate loyal audiences."

Roundabout Theatre Company currently produces at five theatres — Off-Broadway at the Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theatre, which houses the Laura Pels Theatre and Black Box Theatre; and on Broadway at the American Airlines Theatre, Studio 54 and the Stephen Sondheim Theatre.

For more information about Roundabout's programs, visit www.roundabouttheatre.org.

 
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