Blythe Gruda, Chris Crawford & More to Lead Actors' Playhouse's MURDER BALLAD

Actors' Playhouse has announced full casting for the upcoming Florida premiere of Murder Ballad, the new musical by Julia Jordan and Juliana Nash that will play a limited four-week engagement at the Miracle Theatre from October 8 - November 2, 2014.

A love triangle gone wrong, Murder Ballad centers on Sara, an Upper West Sider who seems to have it all, but whose downtown past lingers enticingly and dangerously in front of her. Featuring a contemporary pop-rock score and an immersive setting where the audience is placed in the bar and up close and personal with the actors, this sexy, explosive new musical explores the complications of love, the compromises we make, and the betrayals that can ultimately undo us.

Award-winning Artistic Director David Arisco has selected four exciting musical theatre talents to bring this hot new production to life. Blythe Gruda returns to Actors' Playhouse for the first time since appearing in the company's award-winning productions of Songs for a New World and Floyd Collins as Murder Ballad's protagonist Sara. Gruda has had the pleasure of performing on and Off-Broadway for many years, regionally and on tour, in shows such as Les Miserables, Sweeney Todd and Evita, and starred as Mary Magdalene internationally in Jesus Christ Superstar. Chris Crawford, whose area credits include Assassins (Zoetic Stage) and The Lion in Winter (Palm Beach Dramaworks), will make his Miracle Theatre debut as the bartender Tom. Mark Sanders, who wowed audiences in Actors' Playhouse's critically acclaimed production of Next to Normal, play's Sara's husband Michael. Miami native turned New Yorker Mariand Torres, fresh from her role as Elphaba standby on the National Tour of Broadway's biggest blockbuster Wicked and the Off-Broadway productions of Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812 and The People Vs. Mona, will also make her AP debut as the Narrator.

Murder Ballad is co-written by Jonathan Larson Award winner and two-time Susan Smith Blackburn Prize finalist, Julia Jordan and indie rock singer/songwriter Juliana Nash. David Arisco will direct.

The creative team for Murder Ballad includes: Eric Alsford (music director), Gene Seyffer (scenic design), Jodi Dellaventura (set dressing/props), Ellis Tillman (costume design), Eric Nelson (lighting design) and Mitch Furman (sound design).

Preview performances of Murder Ballad will be held Wednesday and Thursday, October 8 and 9 at 8 p.m. The show will open on Friday, October 10 at 8 p.m. and play through November 2, 2014. Evening performances will be held Wednesday through Saturday at 8 p.m., with afternoon matinees on Sunday at 3 p.m. A special weekday matinee is scheduled on Wednesday, October 15 at 2 p.m.

Preview night tickets on the first Wednesday and Thursday are $35. Tickets for weeknights and matinees are $45, and on Friday and Saturday evenings $53. The theatre offers a 10 percent senior discount rate the day of performance and $15 student rush tickets 15 minutes prior to curtain with identification. Discounts are based on availability and exclude Saturday and Sunday.

Group discounted rates are offered for 15 or more through our group sales department. Single tickets may be purchased through the box office at 305-444-9293 or online at www.actorsplayhouse.org.

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