Photo Exclusive: Tony Winner Andy Blankenbuehler and BANDSTAND Creators Are Bringing a New Rhythm to Broadway
By: Nicole Rosky Jan. 24, 2017
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In advance of rehearsals for the brand new Broadway musical Bandstand beginning officially next month, Tony Award winning director and choreographer Andy Blankenbuehler (Hamilton); composer, co-book writer and lyricist Richard Oberacker, co-book writer and lyricist Robert Taylor and co-orchestrator, music supervisor and arranger Greg Anthony Rassen swing back into the studio for a pre-production work session to hear new musical numbers and vocal and dance arrangements for the very first time. Check out exclusive photos from their session below!
As previously announced, Bandstand will star Tony Award nominee Laura Osnes (Rodgers + Hammerstein's Cinderella) and Corey Cott (Gigi) along with Tony Award winner Beth Leavel (The Drowsy Chaperone), Joe Carroll (Rodgers + Hammerstein's Cinderella), Brandon James Ellis (Once), James Nathan Hopkins (What's It All About: Bacharach Reimagined), Geoff Packard (Matilda) and Joey Pero (Broadway debut).
Bandstand will begin previews Friday, March 31 and officially open on Wednesday, April 26, 2017 at The Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre (242 West 45 Street).
Set in the smoke filled, swing fueled night clubs of 1945, Bandstand brings the against-all-odds story of singer/songwriter Donny Novitski (Cott) and his band of mismatched fellow WWII veterans to the stage.
A national radio contest to find America's next big swing band offers a chance at instant fame and Hollywood fortune, Donny must whip his wise-cracking gang of jazzers (Carroll, Ellis, Hopkins, Packard, Pero) into fighting shape. Teaming up with the beautiful young war widow Julia (Osnes) as their singer, they struggle to confront the lingering effects and secrets of the battlefield that threaten to tear them apart.
Photo Credit: Jeremy Daniel
Director and Choreographer Andy Blankenbuehler, Co-Book Writer and Lyricist Robert Taylor, Co-Book Writer and Lyricist Richard Oberacker, and Co-Orchestrator, Music Supervisor and Arranger Greg Anthony Rassen
Robert Taylor and Richard Oberacker
Andy Blankenbuehler, Robert Taylor, Richard Oberacker, and Greg Anthony Rassen
Greg Anthony Rassen, Lindsey Hope Pearlman and Andy Blankenbuehler
Andy Blankenbuehler, Robert Taylor, Richard Oberacker, and Greg Anthony Rassen
Tony winner Andy Blankenbuehler
Andy Blankenbuehler, Robert Taylor, Richard Oberacker, and Greg Anthony Rassen
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