Ashlyn Maddox, Brian Ray Norris & Andrew Poston Join BULL DURHAM, A NEW MUSICAL

Ashlynn Maddox, Brian Ray Norris and Andrew Poston have joined the cast of the upcoming production of Bull Durham, A New Musical at Theatre Raleigh. The show will be staged at Reynolds Industries Theater at Duke University from September 10-22, 2024.

Bull Durham, A New Musical is an adaptation of the beloved 1988 film about the Durham Bulls minor league baseball team. This trio will join two-time Tony nominee Carmen Cusack (Bright Star, Flying Over Sunset) as Annie Savoy, Broadway stars Nik Walker (Hamilton, Ain't Too Proud, Motown the Musical) as Crash Davis, and John Behlmann (Shucked, Tootsie, Significant Other and Journey's End) as Ebby Calvin "Nuke" Laloosh. 

 Ashlyn Maddox will star as Millie, Annie's sidekick, after most recently playing Kim McAfee in the Kennedy Center’s production of Bye Bye Birdie, as well as Parade on Broadway.  Brian Ray Norris will star as Skip, the team's beleaguered coach. Norris is a Broadway, Film and Television Actor best known for originating the role of Mr. Krabs on Broadway in the SpongeBob SquarePants: The Broadway Musical. And Andrew Poston will take on the role of Jimmy, the evangelical player who marries Millie. Poston's theater credits include Almost Famous (Broadway) and Kinky Boots (National Tour).

Filling out the rest of the cast is Charles Holt, Melvin Gray, Jr., Greg Laux, Andrew Goins, Nicholas Kraft, Tre’ Booker, Blake Zelesnikar, Clifton Samuels, Brian Liebson, Matt Wierciski, Jessi Little, Casey Wortham, Breia Joelle Kelley, Valentina Shelton, Ellie Barone, Sterling Nelson, Chloe Calhoun and the previously announced Ira David Wood (iii).

"We are excited to introduce an amazing cast for Bull Durham, featuring a unique blend of Broadway veterans and local professionals. I cannot wait to see this group of artists bring this classic movie to life in a new and fresh way!" said Lauren Kennedy Brady, executive director of Theatre Raleigh, which is known for bringing in Broadway talent for its productions. Since 2023, the theater has hosted such award-winning performers as Ariana DeBose, Julie Benko, Beth Leavel, Rachel Bay Jones, Norm Lewis and Norbert Leo Butz.

When Kennedy Brady was a Broadway performer, she met composer Susan Werner and the film's director and writer, Ron Shelton. She came on as an early investor on the musical, which made its world premiere in Atlanta in 2014. That production stalled and when the commercial rights to the musical became available a few years ago, Kennedy Brady acquired them with the intention of taking the reworked musical to Broadway. 

The Bull Durham story weaves together baseball and romance as veteran catcher Crash Davis is brought in to mentor rookie pitcher Ebby Calvin "Nuke" Laloosh, while Annie Savoy, the team's muse, must choose between the two men. Shelton, who wrote and directed the original film, adapted his screenplay for the musical while Werner composed the music and lyrics. The production's creative team includes director Broadway director Marc Bruni (Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, The Great Gatsby), choreographer Joshua Bergasse (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, the 2014 revival of On the Town on Broadway and NBC’s Smash) and music supervisor Vadim Feichtner (Broadway’s Falsettos and The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee). 

Tickets cost $35 for the preview performances from Sept. 10-12. Opening night is Friday, Sept. 13. Tickets for opening night and the remaining performances cost from $48-$85. Tickets can be purchased via the Duke University Box Office at https://tickets.duke.edu/.  For questions about tickets, please contact the box office at tickets@duke.edu or 919-684-4444.