Drew Gehling To Lead Tina Landau Directed DAVE Musical At Arena Stage

Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater has announced that Drew Gehling (Waitress, Jersey Boys) will play both President Bill Mitchell and the title role in DAVE, the world-premiere musical debuting this summer, based on the blockbuster Academy Award-nominated comedy.

The production, by three-time Tony Award winner Thomas Meehan (Annie, Hairspray, The Producers), Tony Award nominee Nell Benjamin (Mean Girls, Legally Blonde) and Pulitzer Prize and two-time Tony Award winner Tom Kitt (Next to Normal, If/Then), is directed by Tina Landau (SpongeBob SquarePants: The Broadway Musical) and will run July 13-August 19, 2018 in the Kreeger Theater.

Drew Gehling (DAVE/President Bill Mitchell) is best known for originating the role of Dr. Pomatter in the Tony Award Nominated musical Waitress. Most recently he starred in the pre-Broadway tryout of the new musical Roman Holiday. Previous Broadway credits include On a Clear Day You Can See Forever and Jersey Boys. Off-Broadway credits include Lexy in A Minister's Wife (Lincoln Center); Sistrom in Billy & Ray (Vineyard Theatre); I Believe (Lincoln Center); and Gilbert Blythe in Anne of Green Gables (Lucille Lortel Theater). Film/TV credits include Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (Netflix), Dietland (AMC), Succession (HBO), Elementary, 30 Rock, Muhammad Ali's Greatest Fight, Smash, The Daily Show and Unsung Carolyn Leigh (Live from Lincoln Center). Regional credits include Johnny Baseball (A.R.T.); Moby Dick, Jersey Boys, Hello Dolly (Paper Mill); and Utah Shakespeare. Workshops include American Psycho, The Searchers, Big Fish and Sunset Boulevard. Drew is a graduate of Carnegie Mellon University.

Additional casting to be announced at a later date.

From a Tony and Pulitzer Prize award-winning creative team comes the world-premiere musical comedy DAVE, adapted from the Oscar-nominated film. DAVE tells the story ofhigh school teacher (and presidential lookalike) DAVE Kovic, who is hired by the Secret Service as a stand-in for the Commander-in-Chief. When the President falls ill under less than "presidential" circumstances, DAVE is thrust into the Oval Office to avoid a national scandal, and must find a way to gain the trust and love of the American people...and the First Lady.

Subscription packages, including DAVE, are currently available. Single tickets for DAVE go on sale March 28, 2018. Patrons may call the Arena Stage Sales Office at 202-488-3300or visit arenastage.org. DAVE runs July 13-August 19, 2018.

For complete 2018/19 Season details, visit: arenastage.org/shows-tickets/the-season/index-18-19.shtml.

Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater, under the leadership of Artistic Director Molly Smith and Executive Director Edgar Dobie, is a national center dedicated to American voices and artists. Arena Stage produces plays of all that is passionate, profound, deep and dangerous in the Americanspirit, and presents diverse and ground-breaking work from some of the best artists around the country. Arena Stage is committed to commissioning and developing new plays and impacts the lives of over 10,000 students annually through its work in community engagement. Now in its seventh decade, Arena Stage serves a diverse annual audience of more than 300,000. arenastage.org