Joshua Henry, Solea Pfeiffer, Ephraim Sykes & More to Star in BRAVE NEW WORLD: THE MUSICAL Industry Reading

Joshua Henry (Carousel - Tony Award, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, Drama League Award nominations; Violet - Tony Award, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, Drama League Award nominations; The Scottsboro Boys - Tony Award, Astaire Award nominations) will head the cast of Brave New World: The Musical (as World Controller Thomas Mond) for an invitation-only industry reading on May 23rd in Midtown Manhattan.

Joining Henry will be Solea Pfeiffer (Evita, Camelot, Hamilton National Tour, Sunday in the Park with George); Ephraim Sykes (Hamilton, Black No More, Ain't Too Proud - The Life and Time of the Temptations, Motown: The Musical); Mary Testa (Drama Desk Award winner, Special Award; Oklahoma! - Tony, Drama Desk nomination, The Government Inspector - Outer Critics Circle nomination, Queen of the Mist - Lortel, Drama League nominations, Xanadu - Drama Desk nomination, First Lady Suite - Drama Desk, Lortel nominations, 42nd Street - Tony, Outer Critics Circle nominations, On the Town - Tony Award nomination); and Mike Wartella (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Rent, Wicked, Tuck Everlasting).

Also featured in the cast will be Corey Brunish, Emma Degerstedt, Gabriel Sidney Brown, Gary Cooper, Tim Fraser, Sofia Khwaja, Kate Marilly, Ashley E. Matthews, Cal Mitchell, Anthony Sagaria, DeAnne Stewart, Michael Wordly and Claudia Yanez.

Adapted from the novel by Aldous Huxley, Brave New World: The Musical will feature a book by Ben Andron, music by John McDaniel, with additional music by Jonnie Rockwell and lyrics by Bill Russell. Karen Carpenter will direct this reading,

In the futuristic dystopian Brave New World: The Musical, love, art, faith - the things that make us human - have been abolished in favor of sex, drugs, and constant distraction. World Controller Thomas Mond (Joshua Henry), the ringleader and puppet-master of this world, is responsible for keeping his genetically engineered citizens happy, content, and distracted at all times. But when one of his perfect subjects, Lenina (Solea Pfeiffer), begins to question her place, cracks in the perfection begin to form. With the help of an unusual friend, Bernard (Mike Wartella), she journeys to a savage reservation, where she encounters a mysterious savage, John (Ephraim Sykes), and his even more mysterious mother, Linda (Mary Testa), and makes a discovery that will rock the foundations of Controller Mond's World State to its core.

The cast has been assembled by casting director Stephen De'Angelis. Aaron Grant Theatrical serves as the general manager.

For more information, visit theatrical.ag/BNW.

BIOS

Ben Andron (book) had his first play, White's Lies, produced Off-Broadway in 2010. His other plays include Breaking Bobby Stone, Broken Snow (2017 Carbonel Award nominated for Best New Work), and Bar Mitzvah in Birmingham (musical). Ben worked closely with Disney TV Animation developing the animated series "Hunachi" for Jetix/ABC Family and wrote numerous episodes for the BBC animated series "Friends and Heroes." As EVP and head of AV at BOND (Clio Entertainment Agency of the year 2019, 2020/2021), Ben has been creatively involved in the releases of major Hollywood films and TV series, including the Batman, Under the Banner of Heaven, Joker, Tiger King, Cobra Kai, HBO's Watchmen, and has won numerous Clio Entertainment awards, most recently the Grand Clio for "Matrix Resurrections". He lives in Los Angeles with his wife Michelle and their five children.

John McDaniel (music) is a Grammy and Emmy Award winning Music Director, Composer, Director, Arranger, Orchestrator & Producer and is an Artistic Director at the Tony Award winning Eugene O'Neill Theater Center. Recently, John participated in a live Playbill concert event in Times Square welcoming back Broadway, featuring Brian Stokes Mitchell, Jessica Vosk and Chuck Schumer. McDaniel produced and directed a virtual concert of Sticks & Stones, for which he is also the composer, starring Audra McDonald & Javier Muñoz. He is also a camp director of Kristin Chenoweth's Broadway Boot Camp. John directed Into The Woods & Hair in Concert at the historic Patchogue Theater, Sondheim Originals at 54 Below and Piano Men at Birdland, Broadway music credits include Bonnie and Clyde (Drama Desk Nomination, Best Orchestrations), Catch Me If You Can, Brooklyn (Producer and Orchestrator), Annie Get Your Gun (Grammy Award), Taboo, Chicago, Grease, Patti LuPone on Broadway and Company - the Original Cast in Concert at Lincoln Center. On Television: "The Rosie O'Donnell Show" (2 Emmy Awards & 8 nominations). John has collaborated with Cab Calloway, Shirley MacLaine, George Burns, Joel Grey, Carol Burnett, Betty Buckley, Bette Midler and has guest conducted at 15 Symphony Orchestras across America, including 5 concerts with his hometown St. Louis Symphony. John received a BFA in Drama from Carnegie Mellon University

Jonnie Rockwell (additional music) is the spiritual grandchild of renowned early 20th Century Czech opera composer & folklorist, Leoš Janáček. Jonnie Rockwell studied music & art at Skidmore, is a classically trained pianist and a preeminent synthesizer programmer. She toured for ten years with several progressive orchestras & rock bands, prior to her commitment to Brave New World. She received critical acclaim for composing the music for off-Broadway's 2014 The Anthem. She is also a successful & well-respected physician. Dr. Rockwell's love of Huxley and the idea of a future free from disease, poverty and old age inspired her to go on this theatrical journey.

Bill Russell (lyrics) received Tony Award nominations for the book and lyrics of the original Broadway production of Side Show (1997). The critically praised revised version played the La Jolla Playhouse, the Kennedy Center and received an acclaimed Broadway revival in 2014 and a London premiere at the Southwark Playhouse in 2016. Mr. Russell co-wrote the book and lyrics for Off Broadway's long-running musical Pageant and directed it in the Fringe and West End in London and at theaters around America. He authored the book and lyrics for Elegies for Angels, Punks and Raging Queens (music by Janet Hood), directing it in London's Fringe and West End, among many others. At the end of 2020, he co-directed a streamed version featuring 51 stars of theater, tv and film including Nathan Lane, Cynthia Nixon, Cherry Jones, Fran Drescher, JK Simmons, Seth Rudetsky, Varla Jean Merman and Norm Lewis as a benefit for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. Other musicals for which he authored book and lyrics include Up in the Air (Kennedy Center) and the off-Broadway musicals The Last Smoker in America, Lucky Duck, Fourtune and The Texas Chainsaw Musical. Unexpected Joy premiered in New York and London in 2018. He has honorary doctorates from the Boston Conservatory and Morningside College and was inducted into the South Dakota Hall of Fame in 2016. More at www.billrussell.net

Stephen DeAngelis (Casting Director) has worked with over 100,000 performers across all entertainment mediums throughout his career. His contributions have been seen in New York and regionally in over 300 theatrical productions as well as in numerous workshops and readings. He has cast over 3600 network television and radio commercials for Manhattan's leading advertising agencies. Stephen has also produced over 300 different Broadway concerts at venues in New York and across the United States featuring a multitude of Broadway stars including many Tony Award and Drama Desk Award winners and nominees, stars from hit television series and films whose roots are on stage and Broadway's fastest rising young performers.

Karen Carpenter (Director) is best known for directing premiere presentations of new plays and musicals for the stage, and her dramaturgical contributions to them. She directed the smash hit Love Loss and What I Wore by Nora Ephron & Delia Ephron, produced by Daryl Roth, which was met with unanimous critical acclaim, broke all existing Off-Broadway box office records, won the Drama Desk Award for Best Unique Theatrical Experience, and ran for a record 3 years in New York, featuring rotating celebrity casts, including over 150 of our most celebrated actresses; among them: Rosie O'Donnell, Jane Lynch, Fran Drescher, Rhea Perlman, Marlo Thomas, Tyne Daly, Natasha Lyonne, Kate Mulgrew, and Janeane Garofolo. Additional companies played on virtually every continent, and the show is now enjoyed world-wide. Most recent stage work includes the premieres of The New Yorker critic's pick Harry Townsend's Last Stand starring Len Cariou and Craig Bierko; the new musical Bulldozer: the Ballad of Robert Moses starring Constantine Maroulis; the New York Times Critic's Pick Handle With Care; Witnessed by the World at 59E59; all Off-Broadway. Regional productions include the premiere of the new musical Boynton Beach Club and The Wizard of Oz at Surflight; The Vagina Monologues at Bucks County Playhouse starring Andrea McArdle, Lea DeLaria, and Adriene Lenox; and the premieres of Wendy Yondorf's Admit One in a sold-out run at New Jersey Rep; Rosemary Loar's fractured fairy tale rock musical Spoolie Girl for the Midtown International Theater Festival (Best of the Fest); and Mary Walsh's Dancing With Rage which toured Canada. Her favorite gig to date: directing Michael Keaton in Lauren Yee's Countville for the Festival del Sole, Napa.