Download la jolla playhouse announces cast for us premiere of the hunchback

LA JOLLA PLAYHOUSE ANNOUNCES CAST FOR U.S. PREMIERE OF
THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME,
MUSIC BY ALAN MENKEN, LYRICS BY STEPHEN SCHWARTZ,
BOOK BY PETER PARNELL, DIRECTED BY SCOTT SCHWARTZ
MICHAEL ARDEN, PATRICK PAGE, ANDREW SAMONSKY AND ERIK LIBERMAN
MAKE TRIUMPHANT RETURN TO SAN DIEGO;
RISING STAR CIARA RENÉE ROUNDS OUT TOP-NOTCH CAST OF
BROADWAY VETERANS AND LOCAL TALENT
La Jolla, CA — La Jolla Playhouse announces the cast for its upcoming U.S. premiere musical,
The Hunchback of Notre Dame, featuring a score by the multiple Academy®, Grammy® and
Tony® Award-winning team of composer Alan Menken (Newsies, Little Shop of Horrors) and
lyricist Stephen Schwartz (Wicked, Pippin), book by Peter Parnell (The West Wing, On a Clear
Day You Can See Forever) and direction by Scott Schwartz (Playhouse’s Jane Eyre,
Broadway’s Golda’s Balcony). Produced in association with Paper Mill Playhouse, by special
arrangement with Disney Theatrical Productions, The Hunchback of Notre Dame will run
October 26 – December 7, 2014 in the Playhouse’s Mandell Weiss Theatre.
"We are excited to welcome this knock-out company of local and national talent to the
Playhouse – many of whom have delighted San Diego audiences for years,” said Playhouse
Artistic Director Christopher Ashley. “They will give full-throated life to Victor Hugo’s classic
story of love, obsession and heroism as reimagined by this truly powerhouse creative team."
The cast features Michael Arden (Broadway’s The Times They Are A-Changin’, Big River) as
“Quasimodo,” Patrick Page (Broadway’s Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, The Lion King, How
the Grinch Stole Christmas!) as “Frollo,” Ciara Renée (Broadway’s Pippin, Big Fish) as
“Esmeralda,” Andrew Samonsky (Playhouse’s Little Miss Sunshine, Broadway’s The Mystery
of Edwin Drood) as “Phoebus” and Erik Liberman (Broadway’s Lovemusik) as “Clopin.”
Five San Diego-based actors will be part of the ensemble: Lucas Coleman, Mary Joe Duggan
and Anise Ritchie, along with UC San Diego M.F.A. students Brian Smolin and William
Thomas Hodgson. Additional ensemble members include Julian Decker, Ian Patrick Gibb,
Beth Kirkpatrick, Samantha Massell, Neal Mayer, Nora Menken, William Michals, Vincent
Rodriguez and Richard Ruiz. As previously announced, the acclaimed local choir
SACRA/PROFANA will serve as the show’s on-stage chorus.
The creative team also includes Chase Brock (Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark), choreographer;
Michael Kosarin (Newsies), music supervisor and arranger; Brent-Alan Huffman, music
director; Michael Starobin (Tangled), orchestrator; Alexander Dodge (Playhouse’s Limelight:
The Story of Charlie Chaplin), scenic designer; Alejo Vietti (Beautiful), costume designer;
Howell Binkley (Memphis, Jersey Boys), lighting designer; Gareth Owen (A Little Night Music),
sound designer and M. William Shiner, production stage manager.
-- more --
Based on the Victor Hugo novel and featuring the Oscar®-nominated score from the 1996
Disney animated classic, The Hunchback of Notre Dame is the only stage collaboration from
two masters of the American musical theatre, composer Alan Menken and lyricist Stephen
Schwartz. Celebrated for such beloved and award-winning works as Menken’s Newsies, Beauty
and the Beast and Aladdin and Schwartz’s Godspell, Pippin and Wicked, their artistry reaches
its zenith in The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Featuring a lush, emotionally rich score, this brandnew production from acclaimed director Scott Schwartz highlights the music's orchestral
power and choral beauty in an intimate retelling of the famous love story. Librettist Peter Parnell
crafts a bold, highly-theatrical take on the moving tale of the scorned bell-ringer Quasimodo, the
beautiful gypsy Esmeralda and the dashing Captain Phoebus in 15th century Paris.
Casting for the Paper Mill Playhouse engagement of The Hunchback of Notre Dame will be
announced at a later date.
Tickets for The Hunchback of Notre Dame are currently available at LaJollaPlayhouse.org or by
calling (858) 550-1010.
Biographies
Michael Arden (“Quasimodo”) made his Broadway debut in Deaf West and the Roundabout
Theatre Company’s production of Big River. Other theatre credits include The Times They Are
A-Changin’, Ragtime (Avery Fisher), It’s Only Life, Swimming in the Shallows, Ace, Juno, As
You Like It, The Winter’s Tale, The Secret Garden, Pippin (Mark Taper Forum) and Aspects of
Love, directed by Sir Trevor Nunn (Menier Chocolate Factory, London). Film credits include
Source Code, Bride Wars, The Good Shepherd, Over/Under, My Eleventh and The Odd Life of
Timothy Green. Arden can currently be seen on the series Anger Management on F/X and FOX.
Other TV credits include: GCB, Nurse Jackie, Royal Pains, Unforgettable, Off the Map, Kings,
The Closer, The Forgotten, Bones, The Return of Jezebel James, Cashmere Mafia, Grey’s
Anatomy and Numb3rs. His concert work includes: Barbra Streisand, Chris Botti, Below 54,
Feinstein’s at the Regency and Joe’s Pub. He also formed the site-specific theater company
The Forest of Arden, and their immersive production of La Ronde is currently being developed
into a feature film. Training: The Julliard School. As a director, Arden’s production of Spring
Awakening with Deaf West Theatre is currently running at Inner City Arts in Los Angeles. Other
directing credits include La Ronde, for The Forest of Arden, For the Record: John Hughes, both
in Los Angeles and A Tale of Two Cities (Associate) on Broadway.
On Broadway, Patrick Page (“Frollo”) created the roles of Valentina in Casa Valentina, Rufus
Buckley in A Time to Kill, Norman Osborn/The Green Goblin in Spider-Man: Turn Off the
Dark and The Grinch in How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Also on Broadway: King Henry in A
Man for All Seasons (with Frank Langella), De Guiche in Cyrano De Bergerac, Scar in The Lion
King, Decius Brutus in Julius Caesar (with Denzel Washington), Lumiere in Beauty and the
Beast, Marley/Scrooge in A Christmas Carol and The Kentucky Cycle. Off-Broadway: Rex,
Richard II, Duchess of Malfi, The Sound of Music (Carnegie Hall). Regional credits include 25
years, including Associate Artist at The Old Globe, where roles include Cyrano De Bergerac
(Craig Noel Award), Jeffrey Cordova in Dancing in the Dark (Craig Noel Award), Malvolio in
Twelfth Night and Michael in I Do! I Do!; Associate Artist at The Shakespeare Theatre Company
DC, where roles include Iago (Helen Hayes Award), Coriolanus (Emery Battis Award), Macbeth,
etc. For TV/Film: The Good Wife, Law & Order SVU, All My Children, One Life to Live,
Affluenza, Substance of Fire, Mystery of Matter, Flesh and Bone, Michael, Saava. His awards
include: Drama Desk & Outer Critics nominations, Princess Grace, Helen Hayes, Richard Seff,
Emery Battis, Craig Noel, Joseph Jefferson, Matador Award for Classical Theatre, William
Shakespeare Award for Classical Theatre and The Utah Governor’s Medal for the Arts.
-- more --
Ciara Renée (“Esmeralda”) has appeared on Broadway in Pippin (revival) as Leading
Player and in Big Fish as The Witch. Her regional credits include Sondheim on Sondheim at
Great Lakes Theatre Festival, Lizzie Borden: The Musical, Chess and Passing Strange at
Playhouse Square, Carousel and Harvey at the New London Barn and Les Miserables at the
Fulton Opera House. She is a graduate of Baldwin Wallace University. Tweet her here:
Ciararenee8.
Andrew Samonsky (“Phoebus”) appeared in the Playhouse’s world-premiere production of
Little Miss Sunshine. His Broadway credits include The Mystery of Edwin Drood as Neville
Landless, Scandalous as Kenneth Ormisten (original cast recording), and South Pacific as Lt.
Cable, where he was seen on the Live From Lincoln Center PBS broadcast. Samonsky
appeared Off-Broadway in Michael John LaChiusa’s Queen of the Mist as Frank Russell
(Drama Desk Award nomination, original cast recording) and the City Center Encores!
productions of Fiorello! and Merrily We Roll Along. Original productions of Somewhere in
Time (Richard, Portland Center Stage), Tales of the City (Beauchamp, ACT), and Disney's On
the Record (Original Cast Recording). He is a soloist with symphonies across the country.
TV: Elementary and Guiding Light.
Erik Liberman (“Clopin”) recently co-conceived, co-directed and appeared in Raising the Roof,
an all-star gala celebrating Fiddler on the Roof's 50th Anniversary at New York's Town Hall,
having toured North America as Motel opposite Topol, Harvey Fierstein and Theodore Bikel. He
made his Broadway debut in Harold Prince and Alfred Uhry's Lovemusik, received a Helen
Hayes Award for his portrayal of "Charley" in Eric Schaeffer's revival of Merrily We Roll Along, a
Connecticut Critics Circle Award as The Baker in Mark Lamos' Into the Woods, and a New York
Musical Theatre Festival Award for his portrayal of Groucho Marx in The Most Ridiculous Thing
You Ever Hoid, a role which he reprised at The White House and in Off-Broadway's Minnie's
Boys. Liberman originated the role of Frank in Portland Center Stage’s Somewhere in Time,
directed by Scott Schwartz, and appeared in the world premiere of Reefer Madness, for which
he received LA’s Ovation and Garland Awards. Additional credits include: Mabou Mines
Dollhouse (world tour and Off-Broadway), and the New York premiere of Kooman and
Dimond's Dani Girl. He is a winner of the Lotte Lenya Competition for Singers and featured in
the Actors Equity Centennial book, Performance of the Century. www.erikliberman.org.
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 well-respected not-for-profit theatres in the country. Numerous
Playhouse productions have moved to Broadway, including the currently running, multiple Tony
Award-winning hit 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, 33
Variations, Peter and the Starcatcher, 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.
-- more --
Fact Sheet:
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
WHEN:
October 26 – December 7 (press opening: November 9 at 7pm)
Tue/Wed at 7:30pm; Thu/Fri/Sat at 8pm; Sun at 7pm; Sat/Sun at 2pm
WHO:
Creative Team:
Book by Peter Parnell
Music by Alan Menken
Lyrics by Stephen Schwartz
Director: Scott Schwartz
Choreographer: Chase Brock
Music Supervisor/Arranger: Michael Kosarin
Orchestrator: Michael Starobin
Scenic Designer: Alexander Dodge
Costume Designer: Alejo Vietti
Lighting Designer: Howell Binkley
Sound Designer: Gareth Owen
Dramaturg: Gabriel Greene
Production Stage Manager: M. William Shiner
Cast:
Michael Arden
Erik Liberman
Patrick Page
Ciara Renée
Andrew Samonsky
Quasimodo
Clopin
Frollo
Esmeralda
Phoebus
Ensemble: Lucas Coleman, Julian Decker, Mary Joe Duggan, Ian Patrick Gibb,
William Thomas Hodgson, Beth Kirkpatrick, Samantha Massell, Neal Mayer,
Nora Menken, William Michals, Anise Ritchie, Vincent Rodriguez, Richard Ruiz,
Brian Smolin.
On-Stage Chorus: SACRA/PROFANA
BACKGROUND:
Based on the Victor Hugo novel and featuring the Oscar®-nominated score from the 1996
Disney animated classic, The Hunchback of Notre Dame is the only stage collaboration from
two masters of the American musical theatre, composer Alan Menken and lyricist Stephen
Schwartz. Celebrated for such beloved and award-winning works as Menken’s Newsies, Beauty
and the Beast and Aladdin and Schwartz’s Godspell, Pippin and Wicked, their artistry reaches
its zenith in The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Featuring a lush, emotionally rich score, this brandnew production from acclaimed director Scott Schwartz highlights the music's orchestral
power and choral beauty in an intimate retelling of the famous love story. Librettist Peter Parnell
crafts a bold, highly-theatrical take on the moving tale of the scorned bell-ringer Quasimodo, the
beautiful gypsy Esmeralda and the dashing Captain Phoebus in 15th century Paris.
PRODUCTION SPONSORS: U.S. Bank, Morrison & Foerster
Funded in part by the San Diego Tourism Marketing District Corporation with
City of San Diego Tourism Marketing District Assessment Funds.
TICKETS/INFO:
LaJollaPlayhouse.org or (858) 550-1010; Tickets start at $15.