Download La Jolla Playhouse, in association with The John F. Kennedy Center

2910 La Jolla Village Drive, La Jolla, CA 92037
LaJollaPlayhouse.org
La Jolla Playhouse, in association with
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts,
Announces
CAST AND CREATIVE TEAM FOR RE-IMAGINED MUSICAL
SIDE SHOW
PRODUCTION FEATURES BROADWAY VETERANS INCLUDING:
KEALA SETTLE, RETURNING TO PLAYHOUSE FOLLOWING TONY-NOMINATED PERFORMANCE
IN HANDS ON A HARDBODY, AS FORTUNE TELLER
ERIN DAVIE AND EMILY PADGETT AS CONJOINED TWINS VIOLET AND DAISY HILTON;
MANOEL FELCIANO AS TERRY CONNOR;
MATTHEW HYDZIK AS BUDDY;
ROBERT JOY AS SIR
DAVID ST. LOUIS AS JAKE
PRODUCTION ALSO FEATURES AWARD-WINNING CREATIVE TEAM
SAN DIEGO ACTORS ROUND OUT COMPANY, CONTINUING PLAYHOUSE’S
COMMITMENT TO HIRING LOCAL TALENT
La Jolla, CA — La Jolla Playhouse, in association with the John F. Kennedy Center for the
Performing Arts, announces casting for its re-imagining of Henry Krieger (music) and Bill Russell’s
(book and lyrics) Side Show, produced in association with the Kennedy Center. Helmed by Academy
Award®-winning director Bill Condon and choreographed by Anthony Van Laast, the production will run
in the Playhouse’s Mandell Weiss Theatre November 5 – December 15, 2013 and will run in the
Kennedy Center Eisenhower Theater June 14 – July 13, 2014. Tickets for the Playhouse run go on sale
September 8 and are available at LaJollaPlayhouse.org or by calling Patron Services at (858) 550-1010.
“Bill Condon is coming to the Playhouse to develop and stage a re-imagined script and score for Side
Show with this hugely talented cast and creative team. We can’t wait to work with them as they breathe
bewitching new life into this favorite of the American Musical Theatre,” said Playhouse Artistic Director
Christopher Ashley.
The show’s leading ladies – conjoined twins “Violet Hilton” and “Daisy Hilton” – will be played by
Broadway favorites Erin Davie (Grey Gardens) and Emily Padgett (Rock of Ages) respectively; Manoel
Felciano (Broadway revival of Sweeney Todd revival) as “Terry Connor,” Matthew Hydzik (Broadway
revival of West Side Story) as “Buddy” David St. Louis (Broadway’s Harlem Song) as “Jake.”
Returning to the Playhouse following her stunning, Tony Award-nominated performance as “Norma
Valverde” in the hit musical Hands on a Hardbody is Keala Settle as “Fortune Teller.”
The company also boasts the talents of Brandon Bieber (Broadway’s Follies) as “Freak,” Matthew
Patrick Davis (Playhouse’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream) as “Freak, Lauren Elder (Broadway revival of
Hair) as a member of the ensemble, Javier Ignacio (Forever Plaid) as “Houdini,” Kelvin Moon Loh (offBroadway’s Here Lies Love) as “Freak,” Zonya Love (Broadway’s The Color Purple) as “Hottentot,”
Barrett Martin (Broadway’s Nice Work if You Can Get It) as “Ray/Freak,” Don Richard (Wicked national
tour) as “Martin Arnold/Freak” and Blair Ross (Broadway’s Jekyll and Hyde) as “Bearded Lady/Auntie.”
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Additionally, several local actors will join the cast, including Nicholas Mongiardo-Cooper as “Freak/Dr.
Weldon,” Hannah Shankman as a member of the ensemble, as well as David Kirk Grant and Michelle
London as swings.
The creative team features David Rockwell (2011 and 2010 Academy Awards; Broadway’s Kinky
Boots), scenic design; Paul Tazewell (Sideways, His Girl Friday, Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots),
costume design; Jules Fisher and Peggy Eisenhauer (2013 Tony Award winner for Broadway’s Lucky
Guy), lighting design and Kai Harada (Broadway’s Million Dollar Quartet), sound design.
Based on the true story of conjoined twins Violet and Daisy Hilton, Side Show is a moving portrait of two
beautiful, talented sisters on the rise. But as they transform from circus novelties to famed stage stars,
the spotlight doesn’t deliver all they had hoped, testing the strength of their unique bond.
The nationally-acclaimed, Tony Award-winning La Jolla Playhouse is known for its tradition of creating
some of the most exciting and adventurous new work in regional theatre. The Playhouse was founded in
1947 by Gregory Peck, Dorothy McGuire and Mel Ferrer, and is considered one of the most wellrespected not-for-profit theatres in the country. Numerous Playhouse productions have moved to
Broadway, including the currently running, Tony Award-winning musical Jersey Boys, as well as Big
River, The Who’s Tommy, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, A Walk in the Woods,
Billy Crystal’s 700 Sundays, the Pulitzer Prize-winning I Am My Own Wife, Thoroughly Modern Millie,
The Farnsworth Invention, Memphis, 33 Variations, Peter and the Starcatcher, Bonnie & Clyde, Chaplin
and Hands on a Hardbody. Located on the UC San Diego campus, La Jolla Playhouse is made up of
three primary performance spaces: the Mandell Weiss Theatre, the Mandell Weiss Forum Theatre and
the Joan and Irwin Jacobs Center for La Jolla Playhouse, a state-of-the-art theatre complex which
features the Sheila and Hughes Potiker Theatre. La Jolla Playhouse is led by Artistic Director
Christopher Ashley and Managing Director Michael S. Rosenberg.
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts is America’s living memorial to President
Kennedy. It is the nation’s busiest performing arts facility and annually hosts more than 2,000
performances for audiences totaling nearly two million; Center related touring productions, television, and
radio broadcasts welcome 40 million more. Now in its 42nd season, the Center presents performances of
music, dance, and theater; supports artists in the creation of new work; and serves the nation as a leader
in arts education. With its artistic affiliates, the National Symphony Orchestra, Washington National
Opera, and VSA, the Center’s achievements as a commissioner, producer, and nurturer of developing
artists have resulted in more than 200 theatrical productions, dozens of new ballets, operas, and musical
works. The Center has produced and co-produced Annie, the American premiere of Les Misérables, and
Titanic. In the past dozen years, the Center has produced the Sondheim Celebration (six Stephen
Sondheim musicals), Tennessee Williams Explored (three of Williams’ classic plays), Mame, Carnival!,
August Wilson’s 20th Century (Wilson’s complete ten play cycle), Broadway: Three Generations, and
Terrence McNally’s Nights at the Opera featuring three works by the playwright performed concurrently
on three Kennedy Center stages. The Kennedy Center production of Ragtime transferred to Broadway in
2008 and the Kennedy Center production of Follies transferred to Broadway in 2011 followed by a
successful run at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles. The Center’s Emmy and Peabody Awardwinning The Kennedy Center Honors is broadcast annually on CBS; The Kennedy Center Mark Twain
Prize is seen on PBS. Each year, millions people nationwide take part in innovative and effective
education programs initiated by the Center. The programs of the DeVos Institute of Arts Management at
the Kennedy Center offer practical training to thousands of arts managers and board members at all
stages of professional development in the United States and around the world. As part of the Center’s
Performing Arts for Everyone outreach program, the Center stages more than 400 free performances of
music, dance, and theater by artists from around the world each year on the Center’s main stages, and
every evening at 6 p.m. on the Millennium Stage.
PRESS CONTACTS:
Becky Biegelsen
La Jolla Playhouse
(858) 228-3092
[email protected]
Stephanie O’Neill
The Kennedy Center
(202) 416-8446
[email protected]