Full casting has finally been announced for John Pielmeier's Broadway bound Voices in the Dark, with filmdom's Raphael Sbarge and Off Broadway veteran Zach Grenier among the cast. Sbarge appeared on Broadway in Curse of an Aching Heart and Twilight of the Golds, and in such films as "Independence Day" as "Message in a Bottle." Grenier starred in such recent OB mountings as A Question of Mercy and Rhinoceros.
Alongside star Judith Ivey, rounding out the cast are John Ahlin, Peter Bartlett (The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told), Nicole Fonarow, Tom Stechschulte and Lenny Blackburn. Ahlin, Bartlett and Fonarow were among the cast when the show premiered at NJ's George Street Playhouse in 1998. Producers Ben Sprecher, William P. Miller, Aaron Levy and Mindy Utay will try out Voices at Stamford, CT's Rich Forum July 16-25 (opening July 18), and then bring Pielmeier's thriller to the Longacre Theatre beginning July 31.
Two-time Tony Award-winning Ivey will star in the $1.375 million production, which is set to open Aug. 12. Gates McFadden (of "Star Trek: The Next Generation") had starred in the show's Feb. 1998 bow at George Street, with a planned 1998 Broadway production postponed so McFadden could film a "Next Generation" movie. Plans to bring the actress to Broadway fell through in late 1998.
The upcoming mounting will feature the director (Christopher Ashley) and the design team of the show's run at George Street: David Gallo (set), David C. Woolard (costumes) and Donald Holder (lighting).
Dark tells of a radio psychologist trapped with a psycho in a snowed-in house. The play was originally mounted by Pielmeier himself back in October 1994 at Seattle's A Contemporary Theatre. Ivey's Broadway credits include: Bedroom Farce, Piaf, Steaming (Tony and Drama Desk awards), Hurlyburly (Tony and Drama Desk awards), Blithe Spirit, Precious Sons, Park Your Car in Harvard Yard (Tony nomination).
The George Street staging featured Jonathan Hogan (As Is), Ahlin, Bartlett, Fonarow, Larkin Malloy, Robert Petkoff and Charles Wagner IV.
Pielmeier's other works include Agnes of God, Willi, which he appeared in at Seattle's ACT in 1991, Steeple Chase, The Boys of Winter and Impassioned Embraces.
For tickets ($25 - $55) to the Stamford Center pre-Broadway engagement, call (203) 325-4466. The last, short-lived tenant at the Longacre Theatre was The Gershwins' Fascinating Rhythm.
