Entitled Big Rosemary, the April 15 reading of the musical's first act featured the talents of Larry Cedar, Eddie Driscoll, Scott Harlan, David Holliday, Christa Jackson, Gregory Jbara, Paul Kreppel, Christina Saffran Ashford and Jennifer Leigh Warren. Jerry Sternbach was the musical director for the afternoon at the Coronet Theatre. Big Rosemary features a book by Edwards, music by David Lawrence and lyrics by Faye Greenberg.
A previous version of Big Rosemary had its world premiere at the Helen Hayes Performing Arts Center in February 1999. Cady Huffman starred in the title role of that production, which told the story of a mob boss in love with a nightclub singer. Unlike the revised version, the original used classic tunes from the 1920's.
