Chilina Kennedy to Step in as Myrtle in THE GREAT GATSBY This Summer

Chilina Kennedy (Beautiful, Paradise Square) will play the role of Myrtle beginning July 15 in the Broadway musical adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s landmark novel The Great Gatsby.  Kennedy covers the role while original Broadway cast member Sara Chase (“The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt”) is on a medical leave of absence through the summer.

Chase shared news about her health in a recent Instagram post, revealing that she is currently finishing rounds of chemo for fallopian tube cancer. 

 
Kennedy played the role of Carole King in the musical Beautiful on Broadway for over 1,200 performances. She also originated the roles of Annie O'Brien in Paradise Square and Dina in the First Broadway National Tour of The Band’s Visit. Chilina’s first appearance on Broadway was in 2012 when she played Mary Magdalene in Des McAnuff’s Jesus Christ Superstar, which also had successful runs at the Stratford Festival of Canada and the La Jolla Playhouse. Select additional US credits include the world premiere of A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder, in which she originated the role of Phoebe at Hartford Stage and The Old Globe in San Diego (San Diego and Connecticut Outer Critics nominations), the world premiere of A Sign Of The Times as Cindy (Delaware Theatre Company & New World Stages in NYC), and Binky in the Off-Broadway world premiere of This Ain’t No Disco (Dir. Darko Tresnjak/Chor. Camille A. Brown).
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Tony Award-nominated Broadway sensations Jeremy Jordan (Newsies, “Smash”) and Eva Noblezada (Hadestown, Miss Saigon), lead the cast of The Great Gatsby alongside Noah J. Ricketts (“Fellow Travelers”, Frozen) as Nick Carraway, Samantha Pauly (Six) as Jordan Baker, John Zdrojeski (Good Night Oscar) as Tom Buchanan, Paul Whitty (Come From Away, Once) as George Wilson, and Eric Anderson (Moulin Rouge! The Musical, Waitress) as Wolfsheim.  Completing the production’s ensemble are Raymond Edward Baynard (MJ: the Musical), Curtis Holland (Mean Girls), Jeff Kready (Company), Traci Elaine Lee (Shucked), Dariana Mullen (The Great Gatsby at Paper Mill), Ryah Nixon (Boop! The Musical), Pascal Pastrana (A Beautiful Noise), Kayla Pecchioni (Paradise Square), Mariah Reives (Funny Girl), Dan Rosales (Trevor: The Musical), Dave Schoonover (Bad Cinderella), Derek Jordan Taylor (Funny Girl), Tanairi Sade Vazquez (On Your Feet!), and Katie Webber (Rock of Ages).  Kurt Csolak (Funny Girl), Carissa Gaughran (Pretty Woman National Tour), Samantha Pollino (Sweeney Todd), Alex Prakken (New York, New York), Jake Trammel (The Great Gatsby at Paper Mill), and Jasmine Pearl Villaroel (After Midnight) round out the cast as swings.
 
The Broadway premiere of The Great Gatsby features Drama Desk Award-winning scenic & projection design by Paul Tate de Poo III (Spamalot, Tommy at The Kennedy Center), Tony Award-winning costume design by Linda Cho (Anastasia, A Gentleman’s Guide...), sound design by Tony Award winner Brian Ronan (Beautiful, The Book of Mormon), lighting design by Cory Pattak (Spamalot), and hair & wig design by Drama Desk Award winner Charles G. LaPointe (The Cher Show, Spongebob Squarepants) & Rachael Geier. Arrangements are by Jason Howland, Orchestrations are by Jason Howland and Kim Scharnberg (Jekyll & Hyde), the Music Director is Daniel Edmonds (Strictly Ballroom), and the music producer is Grammy Award winner Billy Jay Stein for Strike Audio (Beautiful – cast album). Casting is by C12 Casting (Gutenberg, & Juliet) and the Production Stage Manager is Brian Bogin (The Great Comet, Mike Birbiglia: The Old Man & The Pool). Mark Shacket (Funny Girl, Slave Play) of Foresight Theatrical serves as Executive Producer.