Rialto Chatter: ALMOST FAMOUS Coming To Broadway Next Fall

The new musical Almost Famous has posted an audition notice announcing a run at a Broadway theatre next fall! According to the listing, previews are set for October 2020 and the production will open in November 2020.

A representative for the production did not comment on the show's Broadway plans.

Almost Famous features songs that span the range from classic hits to new songs, with original music and lyrics by Pulitzer Prize and two-time Tony Award winner Tom Kitt (Next to Normal, American Idiot, The SpongeBob Musical). Based on the Paramount Pictures and Columbia Pictures motion picture written by Crowe, Almost Famous is directed by Tony Award nominee Jeremy Herrin (Noises Off, Wolf Hall, National Theatre Live's All My Sons) and presented by special arrangement with Lia Vollack, Joey Parnes, Sue Wagner, and John Johnson.

The audition notice notes that the production is cast, but is seeking standbys. The San Diego cast included Matt Bittner as Larry Fellows, Chad Burris as Vic Nunez, Gerard Canonico as Dick Roswell, Julia Cassandra as Estrella, Rob Colletti as Lester Bangs, Brandon Contreras as Silent Ed Vallencourt, Colin Donnell as Russell Hammond, Drew Gehling as Jeff Bebe, Sam Gravitte as Dennis Hope, Van Hughes as David Felton, Katie Ladner as Sapphire, Anika Larsen as Elaine Miller, Storm Lever as Polexia, Casey Likes as William Miller, Solea Pfeiffer as Penny Lane, Emily Schultheis as Anita Miller, Daniel Sovich as Darryl, Libby Winters as Leslie, Matthew C. Yee as Ben Fong-Torres, and swings Danny Lindgren and Alisa Melendez.

No word yet in anyone reprising their roles for the Broadway production.

The multiple award-winning design team, with a combined 11 Tony Awards and 32 Tony nominations, includes choreographer Lorin Latarro (Globe's The Heart of Rock & Roll, Broadway and West End's Waitress), scenic designer Derek McLane (Tony and San Diego Theatre Critics Circle Craig Noel Awards for 33 Variations, multiple Emmy, Drama Desk, and Lortel Awards, two Obie Awards for Sustained Achievement); costume designer David Zinn (two Tony Awards, for The Humans and SpongeBob SquarePants); lighting designer Natasha Katz (Springsteen on Broadway, Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune, All My Sons, Burn This, The Prom, Frozen; six Tony Awards, for Long Day's Journey Into Night, An American in Paris, The Glass Menagerie, Once, The Coast of Utopia, and Aida); sound designer Peter Hylenski (Grammy, Olivier, seven-time Tony Award nominee, including for Beetlejuice and King Kong in 2019), Tom Kitt (Orchestrations and Arrangements; Next to Normal received the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and two Tony Awards), Bryan Perri (Music Director), AnnMarie Milazzo (Vocal Designer; Spring Awakening, Next to Normal, If/Then, and Finding Neverland), Daniel Green (Associate Music Director), Campbell Young Associates (Hair, Wig, and Makeup Design; King Lear, Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Waverly Gallery), Jim Carnahan, CSA and Jillian Cimini, CSA (Casting), and Anjee Nero (Production Stage Manager).