Candy Buckley Joins Cast of Broadway-Bound SCANDALOUS

Celebrated stage veteran Candy Buckley completes the cast of this fall's highly anticipated new Broadway musical SCANDALOUS: The Life and Trials of Aimee Semple McPherson.

Buckley, whose Broadway credits include Cabaret, After the Fall, Thoroughly Modern Millie and Ring Round the Moon, joins the SCANDALOUS cast in the pivotal role of Minnie Kennedy, Aimee's headstrong and independent mother.

Featuring book and lyrics by Kathie Lee Gifford and music by David Pomeranz and David Friedman, SCANDALOUS begins performances at Broadway's Neil Simon Theatre (250 W. 52nd St.) on Saturday, October 13, 2012.

Opening Night is set for Thursday, November 15 (6:30 p.m.). Tickets are on sale now by visiting www.ScandalousOnBroadway.com.

Ms. Buckley's Off-Broadway credits include Shockheaded Peter, Defying Gravity, The Petrified Prince (Drama Desk nomination), Communicating Doors, Two Noble Kinsmen, Valhalla, Bernarda Alba and Knives and Other Sharp Objects.

She is an 11-year company member of the Dallas Theater Center, where she recently returned to do Next Fall; and a four-year company member of the American Repertory Theater, where her credits include Hedda Gabler, King Lear and Misalliance, among others.

Her other regional stage credits include Autumn Sonata directed by RoBert Woodruff at Yale Repertory Theatre, The Little Dog Laughed at Hartford TheaterWorks, A Delicate Balance at The Guthrie and, most recently, Barefoot in the Park at Bucks County Playhouse.

On television, Ms. Buckley has a recurring role on HBO's "Treme."

As previously announced, SCANDALOUS stars two-time Tony Award nominee Carolee Carmello (Sister Act, Mamma Mia, Parade) as Aimee Semple McPherson, two-time Tony Award winner George Hearn (Sunset Blvd., La Cage aux Folles, Sweeney Todd) as James Kennedy and Brother Bob, Edward Watts (Finian's Rainbow) as Robert Semple and David Hutton, Roz Ryan (Chicago, Dreamgirls) as Emma Jo Schaeffer and Andrew Samonsky as Harold McPherson and Kenneth Ormiston.

The ensemble cast* for SCANDALOUS includes Nick Cartell, Joseph Dellger, Erica Dorfler, Carlos L. Encinias, Hannah Florence, Corey Greenan, Benjamin Howes, Karen Hyland, Alison Luff, Jesse Nager, Sam Strasfeld, Betsy Struxness, Elizabeth Ward Land, Billie Wildrick, Dan'yelle Williamson and Matt Wolfe.

Directed by David Armstrong, SCANDALOUS is based on the life of Aimee Semple McPherson (1890-1944), the world's first media superstar evangelist -- a woman whose passion for saving souls equaled her passion for making sensational headlines and attracting overflow crowds of thousands throughout the world. Time Magazine named Aimee Semple McPherson one the most influential people of the twentieth century.

Set in 1920's Los Angeles, holiness collides with Hollywood in this extraordinary tale of one remarkable woman's charismatic rise to fame amidst scandalous love affairs and growing controversy, inevitably ending in her much-publicized fall from grace.

With choreography by Lorin Latarro (Fanny at City Center) and musical direction by Joel Fram, SCANDALOUS features scenic design by Walt Spangler (Desire Under the Elms), costume design by Gregory A. Poplyk (Broadway debut), lighting design by Tony Award winner Natasha Katz (Once, Aida), sound design by Ken Travis (Newsies, Memphis) and orchestrations by Tony Award winner Bruce Coughlin (The Light in the Piazza).

SCANDALOUS: The Life and Trials of Aimee Semple McPherson is produced by Dick and Betsy DeVos, Foursquare Foundation and in association with The 5th Avenue Theatre (David Armstrong, Executive Producer and Artistic Director; Bernadine Griffin, Managing Director; Bill Berry, Producing Director) and Jeffrey Finn, Executive Producer.