The stars of SILENCE! The Musical, Brent Barrett and Jenn Harris, along with bookwriter Hunter Bell, will be featured on this week's NY1 "On Stage" airing Saturday and Sunday, July 16 and 17 at 9:30 AM & 7:30 PM; Monday, July 18 at 9:30 PM and Tuesday, July 19 at 12:30 AM. NY1's Frank DiLella filmed the interviews earlier this week on the stage at Theatre 80.
Due to overwhelming demand, the producers of SILENCE! The Musical recently put a new block of tickets on sale through August 27. The new smash hit musical will also be adding Thursdays at 8 PM to the weekly playing schedule beginning July 28.
Brent Barrett and
Jenn Harris head the cast of SILENCE! The Musical, the unauthorized parody of The Silence of the Lambs, with book by
Hunter Bell, music & lyrics by Jon and
Al Kaplan, and direction and choreography by
Christopher Gattelli. The production opened to rave reviews on July 9 at Theatre 80, located at 80
St. Marks Place (between First & Second Ave.) Also featured in the cast of SILENCE! The Musical are
Callan Bergmann,
Stephen Bienskie,
Harry Bouvy, Ashlee Dupré,
Deidre Goodwin,
Jeff Hiller,
Howard Kaye, and
Lucia Spina. Music Supervisor is
Mark Hartman, with orchestrations by
Brian J. Nash.
In the Academy Award-winning film The Silence of the Lambs, rookie FBI agent Clarice Starling matches wits with the brilliant but insane cannibal, Dr. Hannibal Lecter, to catch the serial killer known only as Buffalo Bill. Clarice must face her own demons and race the clock to unlock Lecter's clues before another innocent girl is killed and skinned by Bill. It's a hair-raising thriller that's kept countless millions on
The Edges of their seats and permeated the pop lexicon with delightfully creepy quotes like "I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice Chianti" and of course "It places the lotion in the basket." And now, at last, this delicate symphony of suspense has been turned on its ear and retold in the only way it can be - as a musical. A singing chorus of floppy eared lambs narrates the action; Buffalo Bill gleefully dances a hoedown while kidnapping hapless
Catherine Martin; and even Dr. Lecter, scary as ever, sings about the life he'd like to lead someday outside the prison walls.
Created by Jon and
Al Kaplan in 2002, SILENCE! began as a collection of songs on the internet which immediately attracted a staggering number of fans. The Kaplans' subsequent screenplay SILENCE! The Musical was adapted by
Hunter Bell into a live stage show, which also featured newly composed songs by the brothers. Fueled by a rabid cult following, SILENCE! shattered every box office record at the 2005 FringeNYC Festival, winning the award for Best Musical. SILENCE! The Musical met with further success in London where it garnered ecstatic reviews at the Above The Stag Theatre.
This year marks the 20th anniversary of The Silence of the Lambs.
Brent Barrett most recently starred on Broadway as Billy Flynn in Chicago and his other Broadway credits include Annie Get Your Gun (opposite
Reba McEntire), Grand Hotel, West Side Story, and Candide. Brent received an Olivier nomination for his performance in the London company of Kiss Me, Kate (filmed for PBS) and he played a two-year stint in the title role of Phantom - The Las Vegas Spectacular.
Jenn Harris received a
Lucille Lortel Award for her performance in Modern Orthodox. Her other Off-Broadway credits include New Jerusalem and The Understudy, and she is a frequent guest star at Joe's Pub: Our Hit Parade. Bookwriter
Hunter Bell co-wrote and starred in the Broadway musical [title of show] as well as Now. Here. This. at the Vineyard. He is a co-creator of the web series the [title of show] show and recently co-created and wrote the ABC pilot Glass Houses.
The playing schedule for SILENCE! The Musical is Thursdays and Fridays at 8 PM, and Saturdays at 8 & 10:30 PM. Tickets range from $25 to $65 and are available by calling 212-352-3101 or through
www.SilenceTheMusical.com.
