'Buffy' Star Tom Lenk Is New 'Franz' In ROCK OF AGES 9/14

Entertainment Weekly is reporting that "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" star Tom Lenk will join five-time Tony nominated hit musical, ROCK OF AGES on Sept. 14. Lenk will star as "Franz," the son of a German developer who wants to demolish the Sunset Strip (including LA's favorite rock club). The actor originated the supporting role in the Los Angeles and Las Vegas productions.

Lenk tells EW "I'm a little nervous. The way I performed it in LA and Vegas is not nearly as exhaustive as the version that's happening now on stage. I would stand and sing, and then do some dancing. But now it's dancing while I'm singing, so I have two weeks to become Beyoncé."

To read a EW's exclusive interview with Tom Lenk discussing his 'return' to ROCK OF AGES, click here.

It was recently announced that Tony Award nominated Broadway star, Kerry Butler (Xanadu, Hairspray) will star in ROCK OF AGES at Broadway's Brooks Atkinson Theatre (256 West 47th Street) as "Sherrie" beginning Monday, September 21, 2009 for a six month limited engagement for six performances a week. The "Sherrie" understudy will play the role during both performances on Sundays. Constantine Maroulis continues his Tony Award Nominated performance staring in the show as "Drew".

Kerry Butler most recently starred on Broadway, and received Tony Award and Drama League Award nominations for her critically acclaimed role as ‘Kira" in Xanadu. A versatile musical theatre comedienne, Ms. Butler has made an indelible mark on Broadway playing such characters as Audrey in Little Shop of Horrors (Outer Critics Circle Award nom.), the original "Penny" in Hairspray (Clarence Derwent Award; Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle noms.), "Belle" in Beauty and the Beast (Belle), "Eponine" in Les Misérables and "Ms. Jones" in Blood Brothers. Off Broadway, she originated the roles of "Shelley" in Bat Boy: The Musical, "Maddy" in Prodigal, "Isabelle" in Miracle Brothers and "DeeDee" in the musical The Opposite of Sex. Kerry has also made numerous television appearances which include "Lipstick Jungle", "Cupid", CBS's "Second Honeymoon" (with Roma Downey), "Another World," "Sesame Street," "Hometown" and "One Life to Live" (Claudia Reston). She recently recorded her first solo CD, Faith, Trust and Pixie Dust, on PS Classics and performed as "Brenda" in the 2009 world premiere of the musical "Catch Me If You Can" this summer in Seattle.

"Kerry is one of my favorite Broadway performers and I cannot tell you how lucky we feel to have her," says lead producer Carl Levin. "She's funny, she's beautiful, and most importantly she can sing like a rock star."

In 1987 on the Sunset Strip, a small-town girl met a big-city dreamer - and in L.A.'s most legendary rock club, they fell in love to the greatest songs of the ‘80's. It's ROCK OF AGES, a hilarious, feel-good love story told through the hit songs of iconic rockers Journey, Styx, REO Speedwagon, Foreigner, Pat Benatar, Whitesnake, and many more. Don't miss this awesomely good time where big hair meets big dreams and the result totally wails. The show is written by Chris D'Arienzo, directed by Kristin Hanggi and choreographed by Kelly Devine.

Also featured in the cast are Adam Dannheisser, Mitchell Jarvis, Michele Mais, Lauren Molina, Don Stephenson, Wesley Taylor, Ericka Hunter, Jeremy Jordan, Michael Minarik, Angel Reed, Bahiyah Sayyed-Gaines, Becca Tobin, Katherine Tokarz, Andre Ward, Tad Wilson and Jeremy Woodard.

Rockin' in the on-stage band, ARSENAL, are Music Director/ keyboardist Henry Aronson, lead guitarist Joel Hoekstra (Night Ranger), drummer Jon Weber, bassist Winston Roye and guitar player David Gibbs, who also wrote the original arrangements. The Music Supervision, Arrangements & Orchestrations are by Ethan Popp.

Scenic design is by Beowulf Boritt, costume design is by Tony Nominee Gregory Gale, lighting design is by Jason Lyons, sound design is by Peter Hylenski, and projection design is by Zachary Borovay.

New Line Records released the Original Broadway Cast Recording digitally on June 2nd and in stores nationwide on July 7th. In the spirit of the original musical, album was helmed by seasoned hard rock musicians and producers, the album was mixed and engineered by Mike Barbiero (Guns n Roses' "Appetite for Destruction", Metallica's "And Justice For All") and produced by David Gibbs (Original Arrangements for "ROCK OF AGES," Gigolo Aunts, Street Sweeper), executive produced by Janet Billig Rich, Hillary Weaver and Kurt Deutsch/SH-K-BOOM Records and co-produced by Ethan Popp (Music Supervision, Arrangements and Orchestrations for "ROCK OF AGES").

Tickets can be purchased via Ticketmaster.com/ 212-307-4100 or in person at The Brooks Atkinson Box Office (256 West 47th Street).

The performance schedule is Monday at 8pm, Tuesday at 7pm, Thursday at 8pm, Friday at 8pm, Saturday at 2pm & 8pm and Sunday at 2pm & 7pm.

For more information, visit www.RockofAgesMusical.com.