Aneesa Folds, Bryce Pinkham, Marc Kudisch & More to Lead TRADING PLACES

The Alliance Theatre has announced the cast and creative team of its world premiere musical, TRADING PLACES. Inspired by the iconic and beloved 1983 Paramount Pictures film, TRADING PLACES is a hilarious and contemporary musical reimagining of the prince and pauper fable. Billie Rae Valentine, a savvy hustler down on her luck, and Louis Winthorpe III, a minted commodities-trading firm director, have their lives deliberately switched by the devious Duke brothers to settle a petty bet in an outrageous debate of nature versus nurture. Capturing the joyous charm and belly laughs of the original film while reinvigorating the story for 21st century audiences, TRADING PLACES will enjoy its world premiere on The Coca-Cola Stage at Alliance Theatre May 25 - June 26, 2022.

The cast of TRADING PLACES is led by Broadway actors Aneesa Folds (Freestyle Love Supreme) as Billie Rae and Tony Award nominee Bryce Pinkham (A Gentleman's Guide to Love & Murder) as Louis, with Tony Award nominee Marc Kudisch (Girl From the North Country) and Lenny Wolpe (Bullets Over Broadway) as Mortimer and Randolph Duke, and featuring McKenzie Kurtz (Frozen) as Penelope, Josh Lamon (Alliance & Broadway productions of THE PROM) as Beeks, Joe Montoya as Phil, and Don Stephenson (Trouble in Mind) as Coleman. The ensemble cast includes Benjamin Howes, Raymond J. Lee, Michael McCorry Rose, and Nyla Watson. Additional ensemble members are yet to be announced.

TRADING PLACES is helmed by Tony Award-winning director, Kenny Leon (A Soldier's Play, A Raisin in the Sun) and an exciting writing & directing team including television and film writer Thomas Lennon (Book), musical writing team Alan Zachary and Michael Weiner (Music & Lyrics), acclaimed film, television, and music video choreographer Fatima Robinson (Choreography), Alliance Theatre BOLD Associate Artistic Director Tinashe Kajese-Bolden (Associate Director), Tony Award-nominated Orchestrator August Eriksmoen, and Music Director Rick Edinger. The creative team includes Tony Award-winning Scenic Designer Beowulf Boritt, Lighting Designer Adam Honoré, Tony Award-winning Sound Designer John Shivers, and Tony Award-nominated Costume Designer Emilio Sosa.

The production is also supported by Intimacy Consultant Sasha Nicolle Smith, Fight Choreographer Rick Sordelet, and Stage Manager Ralph Stan Lee.

"I am so excited to come home with this world class cast and creative team and a new musical that I know will resonate and be embraced by the Atlanta community," said Director Kenny Leon. "With TRADING PLACES we're exploring the idea of what would happen if we all traded places with someone else, even for a day, literally putting yourself in someone else's shoes. It's relevant; it's uplifting; everyone will feel heard and represented. And you're going to laugh, a lot! It's the perfect play for right now."

TICKET INFORMATION:

TRADING PLACES will have its world premiere on the Coca-Cola Stage at Alliance Theatre May 25 - June 26, 2022. Opening Night is Saturday, June 4, 2022, 8:00 p.m. Tickets for TRADING PLACES are available now at www.alliancetheatre.org/tradingplaces.

VENUE INFORMATION:

The Coca-Cola Stage at Alliance Theatre

Woodruff Arts Center, Memorial Arts Building

1280 Peachtree Street NE, Atlanta, GA 30309