Kendra Kassebaum & Joe Cassidy to Lead NEXT TO NORMAL at Arizona Theatre Company & San Jose Repertory Theatre

A Co-Production between Arizona Theatre Company and San Jose Repertory Theatre, Next to Normal will open September 15 in Tucson. The show will feature the talents of Joe Cassidy, Kendra Kassebaum, Mark Farrell, A.J. Holmes, Andrea Ross, and Jonathan Shew. 

This groundbreaking and award-winning musical explores how one suburban family copes with crisis. With a thrilling contemporary score, Next to Normal is an intense, emotional powerhouse of a musical that aims right for the heart with its story of a family coming to terms with its past and bravely facing its future. ATC will mount the highly anticipated Southwest premiere following its long Broadway run.

Performance dates are as follows: Tucson, September 15 – October 6; Phoenix: October 11 – 28; and San Jose January 10 - February 3. For additional informtaion visit: http://www.arizonatheatre.org/

Joe Cassidy is delighted to make his Arizona Theatre Company debut as Dan, a role that he played in some of the earliest iterations of Next to Normal. Broadway appearances include Catch Me If You Can as Agent Carl Hanratty; also Next To Normal; Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (Freddy & Andre); 1776 (Rutledge & Lee); Show Boat (Ravenal); Les Miserables (Valjean); and A Christmas Carol (Scrooge at 18) at Madison Square Garden. Other NYC appearances include Joe Cassidy, Rock Star at both Joe’s Pub and Ars Nova. Joe's performed regionally in the U.S. in theaters coast to coast. He has been a concert soloist under Maestros Jack Everly, Steven Reineke, and Robert Moody, in both the U.S. and Canada and has recorded with Lorin Maazel. His TV & film credits include Law & Order: Illegitimate, Freefall, and Brando. His holiday CD, Simply Christmas, is available on iTunes. Please visit his website: www.joecassidy.net.

Mark Farrell has appeared in Loaded by Scott Capurro at Ars Nova Theatre, NYC; The Reduced Shakespeare Company’s Completely Hollywood: Abridged (Belgium/Holland Tour); Travesties (American Conservatory Theatre); Around the World in 80 Days (Laguna Playhouse); Putnam County Spelling Bee (San Jose Repertory Theatre); The Fantasticks (SF Playhouse/Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle Award); Noel & Gertie (BATCC award), Laughter on the 23rd Floor, The Mousetrap, Musical of Musicals (BATCC award), Witness for the Prosecution, and Rumors (Center Repertory Theatre); Old, Wicked Songs (Marin Theatre Company); Chicago, Secret Garden, Judgment at Nuremburg, and A Doll’s House (Willows Theatre Company); Machiavelli in The Prince (Central Works); two episodes of the History Channel’s Man, Moment, Machine. Member of Actors’ Equity Association since 2002. Executive Producer of the Long Day Short Film Festival.

A.J. Holmes is making his ATC debut and comes to Arizona fresh off a national tour of Young Frankenstein as Frederick Frankenstein. At the Weston Playhouse in Vermont he appeared as Combeferre in Les Miserables and performed original material for several late night cabarets. He is a composer/actor for viral group TeamStarKid, having composed songs for A Very Potter Musical, as well as Me and My Dick, which was the first student musical to chart on Billboard. Mr. Holmes is a Graduate of the University of Michigan class of 2011.

Kendra Kassebaum played the role of Glinda in Wicked on Broadway, in San Francisco and originated the role on the First National Tour (Helen Hayes Award Nominee). Other New York credits include Alan Menken's Tony Nominated Leap of Faith; Rent; The Receptionist (Manhattan Theatre Club) and the Tony award-winning production of Assassins, both directed by Joe Montello. For the Roundabout Theater she performed the role of Petra in A Little Night Music starring Vanessa Redgrave and Natasha Richardson. Kendra's regional appearances include Actor's Theater of Louisville, NC Theatre, 5th Ave Theatre, ACT, Ordway, Florida Stage and The Muny. She appeared with Natalie Portman and Lisa Kudrow in the film The Other Woman and can be heard on the Grammy nominated cast album of Assassins and the upcoming release of Leap of Faith. Kendra is a proud member of Actors Equity.

Andrea Ross is making her Arizona Theatre Company debut. She was seen on the US National Tour of Whistle Down The Wind as the lead, Swallow. She is a native Bostonian, but now resides in New York City where she is a junior at Pace University. In addition to her theatre work, she has a solo album, Moon River, produced by Andrew Lloyd Webber. Favorite regional roles include Sound of Music, Liesl; Floyd Collins, Nellie Collins; Hello Again, Nurse; Ramona Quimby, Ramona; and Lizzie Borden, Young Lizzie. She made special appearances at the Sydmonton Festival in the U.K., Princess Diana Memorial Concert, G4 Farewell Tour, and she was the Marta Understudy in NY Philharmonic’s Company, featuring Neil Patrick Harris, Patti LuPone, and Stephen Colbert.

Jonathan Shew is happy to be joining ATC for the first time. He has been seen Off-Broadway in The VOCA PEOPLE (original cast) and Frat: The Musical (Kennedy Center). His Regional work includes All Shook Up (Chad), The Twelve (Andrew); numerous concerts throughout NYC including Jason Robert Brown’s Birdland solo concert, where Jonathan sang, “King of the World.” He has also done Readings for Dogfight (Fector, 2nd Stage), Chasing The Song, and recorded Thomson and Desmon's Pump Up The Volume (Mark). In addition, Mr. Shew sang backup for Josh Groban for two years.