The workshop performances, which are free and open to the public, will be held Nov. 7 at 8 PM and Nov. 8 at 3 PM at the Irish Repertory Theatre.
Michael Bush, who recently directed and conceived Leslie Uggams' Uptown Downtown at the Pasadena Playhouse, will direct. Steven Ray Watkins is musical director.
The cast of The Piper includes original Jekyll & Hyde stars Robert Cuccioli and Christiane Noll, as well as John Cariani (Fiddler on the Roof), John Armstrong, Leah Edwards, Katie Emery, Wendy Fox, Brittney Lee Hamilton, Jeremiah James, Michael Marcotte, Marcie McGuigan, Doreen Montalvo and Jeff Williams.
The Piper, according to Irish Rep, "is a Victorian melodrama told in the tradition of Irish pub storytelling. The musical is set in Boston's Scollay Square in the late 19th century, amid brothels, violent gangs vying for turf, and the insidious presence of a 'strangler.' The Piper follows the story of Jordan, a woman who runs a boarding house, her polio-stricken daughter who possesses magical abilities, and a mysterious boarder who becomes the primary suspect in the search for a serial killer."
Other members of the creative team include sound designer David Margolin Lawson, stage manager April Kline and producer Lisa Dozier. Hummon, a Nashville-based composer and musician, earned a 2005 Grammy Award for Best Country Song for co-writing "Bless the Broken Road," recorded by Rascal Flatts. He has also co-written hit songs for such top country artists as the Dixie Chicks, Sara Evans, Wynonna Judd, Tim McGraw and Garth Brooks, among others.
The Piper was initially presented as part of the 2007 New York Musical Theatre Festival (NYMF).
The Irish Repertory Theatre, founded by Ciarán O'Reilly and Charlotte Moore in 1988, brings works by Irish and Irish-American masters and contemporary playwrights to American audiences, to provide a context for understanding the contemporary Irish-American experience, and to encourage the development of new works focusing on the Irish and Irish-American experience.
Currently at Irish Rep is the 20th anniversary production of Brian Friel's Tony Award-winning play Dancing at Lughnasa, directed by Moore. The production opened Oct. 30 and continues through Dec. 11.
The Irish Repertory Theatre is located at 132 West 22nd Street. For more information and tickets, call (212) 727-2737.
