The Hollywood Bowl Completes Casting of All-Star Les Miz with Lloyd Young, McCormick, Maika & More

Les Miserables at the The Hollywood Bowl has completed casting, and BroadwayWorld.com has the scoop! In the plum role of Marius (for which we hear there was stiff competition!), will be Tony-winner John Lloyd Young (Jersey Boys). After a long search, they've found a husband for Rosie O'Donnell and it'll be Michael McCormick (CURTAINS, THE PAJAMA GAME, GYPSY, 1776, etc.), as he became available when CURTAINS announced a closing date. McCormick will be playing Mssr. Thénardier. Playing the grown Cosette will be Michele Maika. Sage Ryan will play Gavroche and Maddie Levy will play young Cosette. The rest of the cast for this highly-anticipated West Coast summer event is expected to be announced shortly and is rumored to have some other Les Miserables alumni, as well as favorites and "up and comers" from other shows.

The rest of the principal cast, previously announced by the The Hollywood Bowl press office are:  Rosie O'Donnell (Madame Thenardier), Lea Michele (Eponine), Brian Stokes Mitchell (Javert), J. Mark McVey (Jean Valjean), Melora Hardin (Fantine) and Aaron Lazar (Enjolras). 

The director will be Richard Jay-Alexander, with Musical Director Kevin Stites, conducting The Hollywood Bowl Orchestra.

Les Miserables at The Hollywood Bowl is being presented by special arrangement with Cameron Mackintosh and Music Theatre International. Line producers are Steve Linder of IMG Artists and Brian Grohl from LA Phil/Hollywood Bowl. The casting directors, as credited in Los Angeles, are Bruce Newberg and Ani Karusel.

The three performances of Les Miserables will be Friday, August 8, 2008, 8:30 PM, Saturday, August 9, 2008, 8:30 PM and Sunday, August 10, 2008, 7:30 PM.  Single tickets go on sale on May 10th. Group and Subscriber tickets are on sale now. For more information, click here to visit The Hollywood Bowl's Official Web Site. 

John Lloyd Young - MARIUS

Tony Award winner John Lloyd Young created the role of "Frankie Valli" in the Original Broadway Cast of Jersey Boys, the story of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons.For his Broadway debut in  Jersey Boys, Young won the Lead Actor Tony,  Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle and Theatre World Awards, and he can be heard as lead singer Valli on the  Grammy Award-winning Original Cast Recording. Before  Jersey Boys, Young was a New York theatre actor in plays including the New York-area premiere of Michael Healey's  THE DRAWER BOY, with Frasier's John Mahoney; and he was named  one of 2004's Best Featured Actors in a Play by the  NJ Star-Ledger for "Danny Saunders" in Aaron Posner and Chaim Potok's dramatic adaptation of  THE CHOSEN, opposite Theodore Bikel, directed by David Ellenstein.  New York Theatre:  "Charlie" in Julia Jordan's  THE SUMMER OF THE SWANS for director Joe Calarco (Lucille Lortel Theatre),  "Moritz" in the Douglas Langworthy translation of Wedekind's SPRING AWAKENING; and nail-biting number theorist "Claudio" in Rinne Groff's THE FIVE HYSTERICAL GIRLS THEOREM, for Obie-winning Target Margin Theatre.

Michael McCormick - THENARDIER

Broadway: Currently in CURTAINS, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, The Pajama Game, Kiss Me, Kate (1st Gangster), 1776 (John Adams), Sam Mendes' Gypsy, Kiss of the Spider Woman, Marie Christine and La Bête. Off-Broadway: A Man of No Importance (Lincoln Center), The Prince and the Pauper, An Empty Plate in the Café du Grand Bouef (Primary Stages), Mafia on Prozac (EST), Scapin and Arturo Ui (CSC), In a Pig's Valise (Second Stage), The Regard of Flight (with Bill Irwin), Charlotte Sweet, Tomfoolery and Coming Attractions (Playwrights Horizons). National Tours: The Producers (Franz Liebkind), Les Misérables (Thenardier). Television: the three "Law & Orders," "Cosby," "My Favorite Broadway," "Candide Concert". Film: The Producers, A Couch in New York, A Very Serious Person.  Member of AEA since Broadway debut in Oliver!, 1964.

Michele Maika - COSETTE 

Michele Maika has appeared on Broadway in Les Miserables and regionally in Heartbeats at the Pasadena Playhouse and Twist of Fate at the Tiffany Theater in LA. On television, she's appeared on Curb Your Enthusiasm, NYPD Blue, Friends, Iggy Vile MD, Seinfeld, King of Queens, It's Like, You Know, Beverly Hills 90210, Touched by an Angel, The New Loveboat and others. On film, she's been seen in 3 Strikes, A Wake in Providence, Demolition University and Disney Channel's Starlight: A Musical.

Sage Ryan - GAVROCHE 

Sage Ryan played Tiny Tim in A Christmas Carol directed by Robert Zemeckis. He appared on America's Got Talent on NBC. He has also played Winthrop in the Music Man at The California Theatre for the Performing Arts.

Maddie Levy has appeared in Oklahoma and Oliver at The Downey Civic Light Opera and Cinderalla, Peter Pan and Once Upon A Mattress at the Orange County Children's Theatre.

Aaron Lazar - ENJOLRAS

Aaron Lazar recently garnered critical acclaim for his performance as 'Enjolras', the leader of the student revolutionaries, in the 2006 Broadway revival of Les Miserables, earning a 2007 Drama Desk Award Nomination for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical. Lazar starred on Broadway as 'Fabrizio Nacarelli' in Lincoln Center's Tony Award winning production of The Light in the Piazza, a role he also played to national television audiences on PBS' Live from Lincoln Center broadcast.  Other Broadway/West End appearances include: The Phantom of the Opera, Oklahoma!, The Scarlet Pimpernel, the Broadway workshops of Barry Manilow's Harmony, Dirty Dancing, and 'Gabey' in the historic 2005 production of On The Town at the English National Opera. Aaron will make his Carnegie Hall debut this April 4, 2008.   www.aaronlazar.com

Lea Michele - EPONINE

Lea Michele is gaining critical praise for her portrayal of Wendla in Broadway's Tony Award-winning hit Spring Awakening. Michele originated the role of Wendla from the first workshops of Spring Awakening at the age of 14, and through its off-Broadway premiere at the Atlantic Theatre in the summer of 2006.  Other Broadway credits include Les Miserables as Young Cosette, Fiddler on the Roof revival in the role of Shprintze, opposite stars like Alfred Molina and Rosie O'Donnell. She also starred as The Little Girl in the original Broadway cast of Ragtime.

J. Mark McVey - JEAN VALJEAN

J. Mark McVey made his Broadway debut as Jean Valjean in Les Miserables after having won the Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Actor while on tour with the show.He was also the first American to perform the role in London's West End. Other Broadway Credits include Captain Walker in The Who's Tommy and Tommy Tunes' The Best Little Whore House Goes Public. Off-Broadway credits include the revival of Chess; Hey Love, A Helluva Town and The Show Goes On.National Tours and Regional works include:Carousel, Chess, My Fair Lady, South Pacific, Seven Brides and the Hal Prince/Livent Inc. production of Show Boat. Mark has two CDs: "Broadway and Beyond" and "If You Really Knew Me" www.jmarkmcvey.com

Brian Stokes Mitchell - JAVERT

Brian Stokes Mitchell's celebrated baritone has been heard on some of the world's most renowned stages including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, the Hollywood Bowl, Tanglewood, The Walt Disney Concert Hall and Ravinia. His long list of Broadway credits include Kiss Me, Kate (2000 Tony Best Actor in a Musical), King Hedley (2001 Tony Award nomination), Man of La Mancha (2003 Tony Award nomination), Ragtime (1998 Tony Award nomination), Kiss of the Spider Woman, Jelly's Last Jam, Oh, Kay! and his Broadway debut in Mail.  He made his Carnegie Hall solo concert debut last summer, and also in concert at Carnegie Hall in South Pacific opposite Reba McEntire and Alec Baldwin. In 2006, Mitchell's solo recording debut served as the flagship release for an innovative new record label, Playbill Records, a venture with Sony BMG.  Brian Stokes Mitchell has served as President of The Actors Fund for three years.

Rosie O'Donnell - MADAME THENARDIER

Rosie O'Donnell is a 13-time Emmy Award-winning American comedienne, talk show host, television personality, celebrity blogger, gay rights activist, film, television, and stage actress. She has appeared on Broadway in Fiddler on the Roof and Seussical! She also produced Taboo. Rosie O'Donnell is an often-advocate for New York theatre, featuring Broadway performances on her Emmy Award-winning talk-show "The Rosie O'Donnell Show," which ran 1996 to 2001. She was last seen as a co-host on the tenth season of ABC's "The View. She recently released her second book entitled "Celebrity Detox" with Warner books.

MELORA HARDIN - FANTINE

Melora can currently be seen on the highly successful and critically-acclaimed NBC show "The Office."In December 2007, Hardin performed at the Catalina Jazz Club with a show of her music and other music, influenced by Broadway, Jazz and Standards. She has been writing songs and singing since she was a young girl of about 10 years old. She has worked with Musical Director Ben Toth and Director Richard Jay-Alexander. Hardin recently made her directorial debut with the independent feature entitled You. Next can also be seen in the Lifetime Original Movie, "My Father's Wife" and the feature film 27 Dresses opposite Katherine Heigl. Currently she is filming the feature film Seventeen opposite Zac Efron.

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