The project has book and verse by Jeannine Dominy (Warner Bros.' "Dangerous Beauty"), lyrics by Amanda McBroom (Pasadena Playhouse's Heartbeats and the hit song "The Rose") and music by Michele Brourman (TV's "The Land Before Time"). The California world-premiere production will be presented in association with Susan Dietz and Tara Smith.
Preview performances will begin on Feb. 1, 2011, with the official opening on Feb. 13, 2011, at Pasadena Playhouse, 39 South El Molino Avenue, in Pasadena, CA. Performances will play to Feb. 27. Tickets go on sale to the public on Sept. 30.
Kaller was Tony-nominated for Broadway's Next Fall, and directed Off-Broadway's Adrift in Macao.
Based on a true story, Dangerous Beauty focuses on 16th-century poet and Venetian courtesan Veronica Franco, who is forced to become a courtesan when her family's fortune is lost. She rises in society only to be confronted by war, plague and the Inquisition.
The musical is adapted from the New Regency screenplay "The Honest Courtesan," written by Jeannine Dominy and released as the film "Dangerous Beauty." It was inspired by the scholarly book "The Honest Courtesan" by USC professor Margaret Rosenthal. Dangerous Beauty was selected for the 2004 West Coast ASCAP Workshop. Sheldon Epps, Pasadena Playhouse artistic director, said in a statement, "The development and production of this new musical, which will receive its world premiere at the Playhouse, represents our ongoing commitment to the presentation of new work as an extremely valuable part of our artistic mission at this theatre."
Kaller said in a statement, "I'm thrilled that Jenny Powers will continue the journey with us. Jenny's singing is magnificent, and her acting is honest and smart. She has a profound knowledge of and an emotional connection to Veronica Franco which she will bring to the Pasadena Playhouse stage."
Joining the creative team with Kaller are Benoit-Swan Pouffer (choreography); Fred Lassen (music director); Tony Award winner Bruce Coughlin (orchestrations); AnnMarie Milazzo (vocal arrangements); Ben Butler (additional orchestrations); Tom Buderwitz (scenic design); Soyon An (costume design); Russell Champa (lighting design); Jon Weston (sound design); Brian Danner (fight director); and Joe Witt (production stage management).
Powers recently won a 2009-2010 Dallas-Fort Worth Theater Critics Forum Award for her role as Sydney Sharp in the revised revival of It's a Bird…It's a Plane…It's Superman at the Dallas Theater Center. Other theatre highlights include Gina in Happiness (Lincoln Center Theater); Rizzo in Grease (Broadway); Meg in Little Women (Broadway); Diana Devereaux in Of Thee I Sing (Encores!); Young Phyllis in Follies (Encores!); Alice B. Toklas in Galati and Flaherty's Loving Repeating: A Musical of Gertrude Stein (About Face Theatre/ MCA); Isabella Andreini in Flaherty and Ahrens' The Glorious Ones (Pittsburgh Public); Sondheim's Bounce (Kennedy Center, Goodman); Dangerous Beauty (NYSF & AMTP); and more.
A full casting announcement will be made at a later date. For more information, visit www.Pasadenaplayhouse.org.
