The show's time-travel-spiked original script is by Jersey Boys' Tony-nominated librettists Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice. Performances play the Goodman's Albert Theatre in Chicago Sept. 19-Oct. 26.
Nine-time Tony Award-winner and National Medal of the Arts recipient Tune (Nine, Grand Hotel, A Day in Hollywood…, The Will Rogers Follies) stages the "romantic comedy and trip through time and the American songbook." Expect a cast of more than 20; complete casting will be announced later.
Stage and screen star Jeff Daniels ("Terms of Endearment," "The Squid and the Whale") makes his Goodman debut starring as Billy Clark, "a piano player who knows the songs and loves the ladies." Acclaimed Broadway veteran Rachel York (City of Angels, Victor/Victoria) stars as Dixie Wilson, "a singer who can't catch a break — with a gig or a guy."
According to Goodman, "the friction between them is immediate; so is the chemistry. At the stroke of midnight on New Year's Eve 1999, the impossible happens — and together, Billy and Dixie steal the songs that make the whole world sing, becoming the superstars they've always dreamed of, at the turn of the century."
In addition to the York and Daniels casting announcement, Goodman artistic director Robert Falls announced the following details about the 2008-09 season:
Two newly announced additions to Goodman's exploration of the works of Eugene O'Neill will be co-productions with two celebrated off-Loop Chicago theatre companies — The Hypocrites and The Neo-Futurists. Between January and March 2009, The Hypocrites will perform The Hairy Ape, while The Neo-Futurists will produce the sprawling Pulitzer Prize-winning Strange Interlude in its full length. These two companies join the line-up Falls has curated which includes New York's Wooster Group, Amsterdam's Toneelgroep, and Brazil's Companhia Triptal "in a celebration of O'Neill's work as it is being produced around the world today." For more information about the complete Goodman Theatre season, visit www.GoodmanTheatre.org.
