Strike Up the Band! BANDSTAND Begins Previews Tonight at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre

The brand new musical Bandstand, directed and choreographed by Tony Award winner Andy Blankenbuehler (Hamilton) with music by Richard Oberacker and a book and lyrics by Robert Taylor and Richard Oberacker, begins performances today, March 31, at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre (242 West 45 Street). Opening night is on Wednesday, April 26.

Bandstand stars Tony Award nominee Laura Osnes (Rodgers + Hammerstein's Cinderella) and Corey Cott (Gigi) featuring Tony Award winner Beth Leavel (The Drowsy Chaperone), Alex Bender (Broadway debut), Joe Carroll (Rodgers + Hammerstein's Cinderella), Brandon J. Ellis (Once), James Nathan Hopkins (What's It All About: Bacharach Reimagined), and Geoff Packard (Matilda).

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.

When 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 (Bender, Carroll, Ellis, Hopkins, Packard) 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.

Playing for every voiceless underdog in a world that has left them behind, they risk everything in the final live broadcast to redefine the meaning of victory. With an explosive original score and choreography inspired by the high energy swing rhythms of the era, Bandstand is a truly American story of love, loss, triumph and the everyday men and women whose personal bravery defined a nation.

The Bandstand ensemble features Mary Callanan (Mamma Mia!), Max Clayton (Something Rotten!), Patrick Connaghan (Broadway debut), Matt Cusack (One Man Two Guvnors), Andrea Dotto (Broadway debut), Marc A. Heitzman (Broadway debut), Ryan Kasprzak (Broadway debut), Andrew Leggieri (Broadway debut), Erica Mansfield (Finding Neverland), Morgan Marcell (Hamilton), Drew McVety (The Front Page), Kevyn Morrow (The Color Purple), Jessica Lea Patty (Evita), Becca Petersen (Broadway debut) , Keven Quillon (Shrek), Jonathan Shew (Broadway debut), Ryan VanDenBoom (Something Rotten!), Jaime Verazin (Finding Neverland), Mindy Wallace (An American in Paris) and Kevin Worley (On the Town).

The award winning Bandstand design team includes Tony Award nominee David Korins (Scenic Design), Tony Award winner Paloma Young (Costume Design), Tony Award winner Jeff Croiter (Lighting Design), Tony Award nominee Nevin Steinberg (Sound Design), Greg Anthony Rassen (Co-Orchestrator, Music Supervisor and Music Arranger), Tony winner Bill Elliott (Co-Orchestrator), Fred Lassen (Musical Director and Conductor), Mark Stuart (Associate Choreographer) and makeup, hair and wig design by J. Jared Janas and Dave Bova.

Bandstand played a critically acclaimed world premiere engagement at Paper Mill Playhouse last fall.