Winesburg, Ohio Opens At Kansas City Rep On 3/20

The hopes, dreams and inner desires of the residents of a small Midwestern town will come bursting to life in Kansas City Rep's production of the new Eric Rosen musical Winesburg, Ohio, one of the most original new musicals to come along this decade. Rosen, artistic director of the Rep, wrote the book and lyrics for Winesburg, Ohio and he will direct.

The full-length musical features a cast of 13, including seven Kansas City actors, and five musicians, four of them local. The show previously has had a successful run in Chicago, where it received a Joseph Jefferson Award for best new play, and a subsequent production in Philadelphia, where it earned a Barrymore Award for best musical.

To hear a musical selection from Winesburg, Ohio, please go to http://www.kcrep.org/our_season/2008-2009/WinesburgMusicSample.wma.

Based on Sherwood Anderson's classic novel of the same name, the musical Winesburg, Ohio examines the secret passions that lie beneath the quiet surface of everyday life in small town America. When the story begins, it is early in the 20th century and 18-year-old George Willard full of dreams of living in the big city. When his youthful hopes are dashed, George looks anew at the citizens of Winesburg and discovers their closeted yearnings and passions.

The music by Andre Pluess and Ben Sussman is based on a century-old American folk style that is steeped in the land and the people of the Midwest and evokes memories of earlier and simpler times.

The cast of Winesburg, Ohio:
Nancy Anderson (Alice Hindman) has appeared on Broadway in Wonderful Town and A Class Act, has acted off-Broadway and has appeared in London, where she received an Olivier Award nomination for her performance as Bianca in Kiss Me Kate. She has also appeared at the Old Globe Theater, Yale Repertory Theatre, Pioneer Theater, Westport County Playhouse and Goodspeed Theatre

Lesley Bevan (Kate Swift) appeared in the world premiere of Winesburg, Ohio with About Face/Steppenwolf Theatre and in the Arden Theatre production in Philadelphia. She has received a Joseph Jefferson Award nomination for Othello at Chicago Shakespeare Theatre and has appeared at Marriott Theatre, Steppenwolf Theatre, Roadworks and Northlight Theatre.

Leslie Dennison (Elizabeth Willard) has appeared on Broadway in City of Angels, Shenandoah, To Grandmother's House We Go, Copperfield and Happy New Year. Her many regional theatre credits include Wit, The Goat, Follies, A Little Night Music, The King and I, Mame, Fiddler on the Roof and Camelot. Her film and television credits include Pippin, directed by Bob Fosse, Pride and Glory with Edward Norton and Colin Farrell, Blue Heaven, "The Sopranos," "Law and Order," "As the World Turns" and "The Guiding Light."

Seth Golay (Seth Richmond) has appeared at the Rep in A Christmas Carol, The Pirates of Penzance and The Front Page, and in many productions at American Heartland Theatre, the Coterie Theatre, Quality Hill Playhouse, New Theatre Restaurant and in the title role in Bat Boy: The Musical at Unicorn Theatre. He has acted off-Broadway in Soar Like an Eagle and appeared in Michael Moore's The Awful Truth.

Gary Holcombe (Wing Biddlebaum) has appeared at the Rep in The Drawer Boy, King Lear, Little Women, The Front Page, The Philadelphia Story and A Christmas Carol, and has appeared in many productions at New Theatre Restaurant and American Heartland Theatre. He also teaches in the UMKC's Professional Training Program, and is the head of undergraduate theatre.

Gary Neal Johnson (Tom Willard) is an artistic associate at the Rep and has appeared in more than 85 Rep productions including Morgan in The Drawer Boy, Pizarro in The RoyAl Hunt of the Sun, Gallimard in M. Butterfly, the Professor in Oleanna, Caesar in Julius Caesar, George in Of Mice and Men, Gloucester in King Lear, Oberon in A Midsummer Night's Dream, Squeers in Nicholas Nickleby, nine seasons as Ebenezer Scrooge in A Christmas Carol and Harry Truman in Give 'Em Hell, Harry. He also appeared in the Rep/American Conservatory Theater co-production of The Voysey Inheritance, for which he earned a Dean Goodman Award for best supporting actor.

James Judy (The Writer) has appeared on Broadway in Into the Woods, The Scarlet Pimpernel and A Christmas Carol and in many off-Broadway productions including Tin Pan Alley Rag, Fiorello and La Boheme. He has also performed in the national tours of Deaf West's Big River and South Pacific.

Jessalyn Kincaid (Young Elizabeth) appears at the Rep for the first time. She has performed in the world premiere productions of The Happy Elf, Disney's Geppetto & Son and Seussical at the Coterie Theatre, and in A Dog's Life at American Heartland Theatre. She also has appeared at New Theatre Restaurant, American Heartland Theatre, Quality Hill Playhouse, the Unicorn Theatre, Musical Theater Heritage and Theatre for Young America.

Ashlee LaPine (Helen White) recently made her Rep debut in A Christmas Carol. She has also appeared as Emily in Out Town at Coterie Theatre and Desdemona in Desdemona: A Play About a Handkerchief for KC Actors Theatre. Ms. LaPine is a third-year M.F.A. acting student at UMKC, where she also teaches voice. Her television credits include "All My Children" and Disney's "Halloween Town Witch University."

Geoff Packard (George Willard) understudied in the Broadway production and national tour of The Phantom of the Opera and understudied in the national tour of Wicked. He has appeared at Ford's Theatre, Goodspeed Theatre and Cincinnati College Conservatory, where he earned his B.F.A. He has also appeared on "The Guiding Light."

Jeff Parker (Rev. Curtis Hartman) created the role of Curtis Hartman for the original Steppenwolf Theatre Arts Exchange production and reprised it in the full-length version for About Face Theatre. In Chicago, he has appeared in productions at many theatres including the Goodman Theatre, Northlight Theatre, Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, Victory Gardens Theatre and the Marriott Theatre. He also received Chicago's Jefferson Award nomination for best actor in a musical for his role in Nine: The Musical at Porchlight Music Theatre. His television credits include "Early Edition" and "Prison Break."

Bruce Roach (Joe Welling) recently appeared as Marley in Kansas City Repertory Theatre's productions of A Christmas Carol and To Kill a Mockingbird. His work as an actor, director and educator has taken him across the U.S. and abroad.

John-Michael Zuerlein (Enoch) makes his Kansas City Rep debut in Winesburg, Ohio. His local credits include A Tuna Christmas, A Dog's Life and Perfect Wedding at American Heartland Theatre, Tick, Tick...Boom! and Convenience at The Unicorn Theatre. He has also appeared at Hey City Theatre, Snap! Productions, Minnesota Orchestra, Minneapolis Childrens' Theatre Company, and Ordway Center for the Performing Arts.

The show also features five musicians: Ryan Fisher (guitar I), Aaron Fry (guitar II), Michalis Koutsoupides (conductor/piano), Rick Willoughby (bass) and Michael Winer (violin). All but Fisher, who is from Chicago, are Kansas City performers.

The creative team for Winesburg, Ohio is Molly Jessup (Music Director), Jack Magaw (Set Designer), Janice Pytel (Costume Designer), David lander (Lighting Designer), Joshua Horvath (Sound Designer) and Jennifer Martin (Choreographer).

Winesburg, Ohio is based on the novel by Sherwood Anderson; book and lyrics by Eric Rosen; music and additional lyrics by Andre Pluess and Ben Sussman; conceived by and developed in collaboration with Jessica Thebus.

Special events scheduled for Winesburg, Ohio include:
Sunday, March 15 Meet the Creative Team following 7 p.m. performance
Friday, March 20 Opening Night
Sunday, March 22 Pre-show Talk at 6 p.m. for 7 p.m. performance
Saturday, March 28 Signed performance at 2 p.m. matinee
Scholars' Forum following matinee with guests Christie Hodgen, Assistant Professor of English at UMKC, and Laura Beachy, English teacher at Shawnee Mission East High School.
Sunday, March 29 Actors' Forum following 2 p.m. matinee
Tuesday, March 31 Actors' Forum following 7 p.m. performance

All performances and events will take place at Spencer Theatre in the James C. Olson Performing Arts Center on the UMKC campus, just east of the Country Club Plaza. Tickets for Winesburg, Ohio cost $20-$55 and youth tickets (18 years and younger and students with valid school ID) are $15. For information about performance times and ticket options, call the Rep Box Office at 816-235-2700 or visit www.kcrep.org.