Ashley Brown, Lindsay Mendez, Ryan Silverman and More to Lead THE GOLDEN APPLE at Encores!

Encores! Artistic Director Jack Viertel today announced casting for the Encores! production of The Golden Apple, John Latouche and Jerome Moross' cult classic.

The Golden Apple will star Mikaela Bennett (Penelope), Ashley Brown (Mrs. Juniper/Madame Calypso), Carrie Compere (Lovey Mars/The Siren), Jason Kravits (Menelaus/Scylla), Alli Mauzey (Miss Minerva Oliver/The Scientist), Lindsay Mendez (Helen), N'Kenge (Mother Hare), Ryan Silverman (Ulysses), and Rasta Thomas (Paris).

The ensemble includes Florrie Bagel, Daniel Berryman, Michael Buchanan, Brian Cali, Max Chernin, Andrew Cristi, Laura Darrell, Dionne Figgins, Hannah Florence, Tamar Greene, Jeff Heimbrock, Leah Horowitz, Monté J. Howell, Donald Jones Jr., Andrea Jones-Sojola, Naomi Kakuk, Evan Kasprzak, Reed Kelly, Bruce Landry, Quentin Oliver Lee, Brandon Leffler, Michael X. Martin, Skye Mattox, Sarah Meahl, Justin Prescott, Lindsay Roberts, Sarrah Strimel, Joseph Torello, Kathy Voytko, and Nicholas Ward.

Helen of Troy as a bored housewife? Ulysses as a dashing hero of the Spanish-American War? The whimsical and toweringly ambitious 1954 musical The Golden Apple does all that and more, reshaping the myths of The Iliad and The Odyssey into an all-American fable that conjures up the days when pie-baking contests were cutthroat and lovers eloped in hot air balloons. Despite its brief run, John Latouche and Jerome Moross' show was hailed by critics and introduced the classic torch song "Lazy Afternoon." The Encores! production will be directed by Michael Berresse with musical direction by Rob Berman and choreography by Joshua Bergasse.

The Golden Apple will run for seven performances at City Center from May 10-14. Tickets starting at $35 can be purchased online at NYCityCenter.org, by calling CityTix at 212.581.1212, or in person at the City Center Box Office, located at 131 West 55th Street between 6th and 7th Avenues.

City Center dedicates this production of The Golden Apple to the memory of Lex Kaplen, a devoted supporter of Encores!

ABOUT THE ARTISTS:

Michael Berresse (Director) is an Obie Award-winning director and a Tony and Olivier Award-nominated actor. Broadway directing/acting credits include [title of show]; A Chorus Line; The Light in the Piazza; Kiss Me, Kate (Tony Award nomination); Chicago; The Gershwins' Fascinating Rhythm; Carousel; Damn Yankees; Guys and Dolls; and Fiddler on the Roof. Off-Broadway: Now. Here. This.; [title of show] (Obie Award); Forever Plaid; and The Cocoanuts. City Center Encores!: No, No, Nanette; Chicago; The Band Wagon; Call Me Madam; and One Touch of Venus. Additional directorial credits include Round and Round the Garden, Analog & Vinyl, Peter and the Starcatcher, and the ACT production of The Last Five Years (TBA Award for Best Musical). Film and television: State of Play, The Bourne Legacy, A.I. Artificial Intelligence, Split!, Meet Dave, The Knick, Elementary, The Good Wife, Crossbones, Person of Interest, and Law & Order.

Rob Berman (Encores! Music Director) is in his tenth season as music director of Encores!, for which he has conducted 27 productions and four cast recordings. Berman's Broadway credits include Bright Star, Tuck Everlasting, Dames at Sea, Finian's Rainbow, Irving Berlin's White Christmas, The Pajama Game, The Apple Tree, Wonderful Town, and Promises, Promises. For nine years he was music director of the Kennedy Center Honors on CBS, for which he won an Emmy Award for outstanding musical direction. He has conducted for Barbara Cook with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and he was also music director for the PBS presentation of A Broadway Celebration: In Performance at the White House. Other credits include Sunday in the Park with George (Kennedy Center, Helen Hayes Award) and Passion (Classic Stage Company). Recordings include the complete restored score of Jerome Kern's Roberta for New World Records.

Joshua Bergasse (Choreographer) has choreographed the Broadway productions of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, On the Town (Tony, Drama Desk, and Outer Critics Circle Award nominations; Astaire Award), and Gigi. Off-Broadway: Sweet Charity (Lucille Lortel Award nomination), Cagney (Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, and Astaire Award nominations; Callaway Award finalist), Bomb-itty of Errors, and Captain Louie. City Center Encores!: Little Me and It's a Bird...It's a Plane...It's Superman. Carnegie Hall: Guys and Dolls and The Sound of Music. As director/choreographer: Hazel (Drury Lane Theatre) and West Side Story (NCT). As co-director/choreographer: Bombshell on Broadway (Minskoff Theatre). His television credits include choreography for the NBC series Smash (Emmy Award), So You Think You Can Dance (FOX), and Sinatra: Voice for a Century (PBS).

New York City Center (Arlene Shuler, President & CEO) has played a defining role in the cultural life of the city since 1943. For nearly 25 years, City Center's Tony-honored Encores! series has been "an essential New York institution" (The New York Times). In 2013, City Center launched the Encores! Off-Center series, which features seminal Off-Broadway musicals filtered through the lens of today's innovative artists. Dance has also been integral to the theater's mission from the start and programs like the annual Fall for Dance Festival remain central to City Center's identity. Home to a roster of renowned national and international companies including Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (City Center's Principal Dance Company) and Manhattan Theatre Club, New York City Center was Manhattan's first performing arts center, founded with the mission of making the best in music, theater, and dance accessible to all audiences. That mission continues today through robust education and community engagement programs which bring the performing arts to over 9,000 New York City students each year and expand the theatrical experience beyond the proscenium to include pre-show talks, master classes, and art exhibitions that offer an up-close look at the work of the great theater and dance artists of our time.