BroadwayWorld.com has learned the the Jill Santoriello penned A Tale of Two Cities, which played the Asolo Repertory Theatre in Sarasota, Florida in the Fall of 2007 will open on Broadway at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre on September 18, 2008. Previews will begin on August 19, 2008 with rehearsals set to start on "Bastille Day", July 14th.
A Tale of Two Cities features a book, music and lyrics
by Santoriello; designed by Tony Walton
(scenery), David Zinn (costumes), Richard Pilbrow (lights), Carl Casella and
Domonic Sack (sound). Musical direction is by Kevin Stites and
orchestrations by Edward B. Kessel and Bob Krogstad. The show's press representation is The Jacksina Company. The Sarasota production was directed by Michael Donald Edwards and choreographed by Warren Carlyle. An official press release today, received at 3:57 PM, named Warren Carlyle as director and choreographer for the Broadway production (we have since learned, that this is pending completion of a negotiation).
"Set against the
epic backdrop of the French Revolution and based on the classic Dickens novel, A Tale of Two Cities is a musical about
injustice, vengeance and the redemptive power of love," describe press
notes, "When Dr. Manette is released from the French Bastille after 17
years, he must be resurrected from the brink of madness by his daughter, Lucie.
In England
they meet two very different men: the exiled French aristocrat, Charles Darnay,
whom Lucie marries, and the drunken cynic, Sydney Carton. Soon family secrets
and political intrigue combine to draw Lucie and her family back to Paris. At the height of
the Reign of Terror, the musical finds an unlikely hero in Carton, inspired by love
to make an extraordinary sacrifice."
The Florida cast featured James Barbour (Sydney
Carton), Craig Bennett (Jerry Cruncher), Joe Cassidy (Ernest
Defarge), Janine Divita (Young French Woman), Kevin Greene (Gabelle),
Tim Hartman (The Turnkey), Michael Hayward-Jones (Jarvis Lorry), Derek Keeling (Charles
Darnay), Jodie Langel (Mrs.
Cruncher), Jay Lusteck (Attorney General), Katherine McGrath (Miss
Pross), Les Minski (Marquis St. Evremonde), Walter Winston Oneil (Cronie), Rob
Richardson (Gaspard), Rebecca Robbins (Vengeance), Jessica Rush (Lucie
Manette), Alex Santoriello (Dr. Manette), Wayne Schroder (C.J. Stryver), Natalie Toro (Madame
Defarge) and Nick Wyman (John
Barsad), and Alex Howley, Kim Fanok, Karis Danish, Amy E. Gray, Marcus Denard
Johnson, Heather Kopp, , Julie Lachance, Jennifer Logue, Bruce Merkle, Catherine
Missal, Stephen Missal and Owen Teague.
The cast in the famous court-room scene
For more information visit www.ATaleof2Cities.com
Photos by Carol Rosegg
The Florida cast of A Tale of Two Cities
