Next to Normal and Rent director Michael Greif will helm the production that will premiere in an out-of-town engagement at the National Theatre Nov. 5-Dec. 8. It officially opens Nov. 24.
If/Then will begin Broadway previews March 4, 2014, towards a March 27, 2014, opening at the Richard Rodgers Theatre.
The musical has music by Kitt, with book and lyrics by Yorkey. The writers earned the Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize for penning Next to Normal. It will have musical direction by Carmel Dean and orchestrations by Kitt and Tony Award winner Michael Starobin, who collaborated together on Next to Normal.
The cast boasts Menzel (Wicked, Rent), LaChanze (The Color Purple, Once on This Island), Anthony Rapp (Rent), James Snyder (Cry-Baby), Jerry Dixon (tick, tick…Boom!, Once on This Island), Jenn Colella (Chaplin, High Fidelity), Jason Tam (A Chorus Line, Lysistrata Jones) and Tamika Lawrence (Matilda).
Also featured are Joe Cassidy (Working), Miguel Cervantes (American Idiot, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee), Curtis Holbrook (West Side Story, Xanadu), Stephanie Klemons (In The Heights), Tyler McGee (Ghost), Ryann Redmond (Bring It On), Joe Aaron Reid (Catch Me If You Can) and Ann Sanders (Leap of Faith). Choreographer Larry Keigwin — founder of the contemporary dance company Keigin + Company — who choreographed Tales of the City and the Off-Broadway revival of Rent, will make his Broadway debut with If/Then.
David Stone, who also produced Wicked and Next to Normal, is shepherding the project about a woman on the cusp of 40, who returns to New York City to start fresh.
If/Then will have set design by Tony Award nominee Mark Wendland (Next to Normal, The Merchant of Venice), costume design by Emily Rebholz (Bloody, Bloody Andrew Jackson; Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike), lighting design by Tony Award winner Kenneth Posner (Kinky Boots, Wicked) and sound design by Tony Award winner Brian Ronan (Next To Normal, The Book of Mormon).
According to the creators, "On the verge of turning 40, Elizabeth (Menzel) moves back to New York City, the ultimate city of possibility, intent on a fresh start – new home, new friends, and hopes for a resurgent career. But even in her carefully planned new life, the smallest decision or most random occurrence will impact her world in ways she never dreamt possible. Set against the ever-shifting landscape of modern day Manhattan, If/Then is a romantic and original new musical about how choice and chance collide and how we learn to love the fallout."
Click here for tickets to the National Theatre premiere.
Visit ifthenthemusical.com.
