Victoria Clark Leads Broadway's SISTER ACT; Cast Announced!

Producers Whoopi Goldberg and Stage Entertainment have announced that Tony Award-winner Victoria Clark will co-star as Mother Superior in the new Broadway musical, SISTER ACT, beginning preview performances on March 24, 2011 and opening on Wednesday, April 20, 2011 at the Broadway Theatre (1681 Broadway). As previously announced, Olivier Award nominee Patina Miller will reprise her critically acclaimed performance as Deloris Van Cartier, which she originated in the West End production of SISTER ACT.

Victoria Clark (Mother Superior) received Tony, Drama Desk, and Outer Critics Circle Awards for her performance in the critically-acclaimed Craig Lucas-Adam Guettel musical The Light in the Piazza in 2005. Most recently, Ms. Clark appeared in the off-Broadway production, Love, Loss and What I Wore, as well as Lincoln Center's heralded production of When the Rain Stops Falling for which she received a Drama Desk Award nomination. Her many Broadway credits include Titanic, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying with Matthew Broderick and Megan Mullally, Jerry Zaks' Tony Award-winning revival of Guys and Dolls with Faith Prince and Nathan Lane, Urinetown, A Grand Night for Singing, Sam Mendes' revival of Cabaret, and Sunday in the Park with George. Clark was also among the featured performers in Stephen Sondheim: The Birthday Concert held at Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall, which was televised on PBS. She recently appeared opposite Norm Lewis in Fascinatin' Rhythm: Rob Fisher Celebrates the Gershwins and previously, headlined with David Hyde Pierce in Night & Day: Rob Fisher Celebrates Cole Porter, both part of Lincoln Center's American Songbook Series. Ms. Clark, with music director Ted Sperling, recently earned rave reviews for their show entitled "The Vicki and Ted Show" at Feinstein's at Loews Regency. Her many appearances at the acclaimed Encores! series include Follies with Donna Murphy, Christine Baranski, and Victor Garber, Juno, and Bye Bye Birdie. Off-Broadway credits include Craig Lucas' Prayer for My Enemy, Christopher Durang's The Marriage of Bette and Boo, and Nicky Silver's The Agony and the Agony. Clark's film credits include Cradle Will Rock, The Happening, Main Street, and Harvest, and TV appearances include "Mercy," "Law & Order," "Law & Order: SVU," and the PBS special Sweeney Todd in Concert featuring Patti LuPone, George Hearn, and the San Francisco Philharmonic.

The Broadway company will also feature Fred Applegate (Young Frankenstein) as Monsignor, Sarah Bolt (Wicked) as Sister Mary Patrick, John Treacy Egan (The Producers) as Joey, Demond Green (The Toxic Avenger) as TJ, Chester Gregory (Dreamgirls) as Eddie, Kingsley Leggs (The Color Purple) as Curtis, Marla Mindelle (South Pacific) as Sister Mary Robert, Audrie Neenan (Picnic) as Sister Mary Lazarus and Caesar Samayoa (The Pee-Wee Herman Show) as Pablo.

The ensemble of SISTER ACT will also include: Jennifer Allen, Natalie Bradshaw, Charl Brown, Christina DeCicco, Holly Davis, Madeleine Doherty, Alan H. Green, Blake Hammond, Wendy James, Carrie A. Johnson, Kevin Ligon, Louise Madison, Marissa Perry, Ernie Pruneda, Corbin Reid, Lance Roberts, Rashidra Scott, Jennifer Simard, Lael Van Keuren, Roberta Wall and Alena Watters.

SISTER ACT features an original score with music by multi-Academy, Grammy and Golden Globe Award-winning composer Alan Menken (Little Shop of Horrors, Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid and Tangled), lyrics by Tony Award-nominee Glenn Slater (Tangled, The Little Mermaid), and a book by multi-Emmy Award winners Cheri and Bill Steinkellner ("Cheers"). Directed on Broadway by four-time Tony Award winner Jerry Zaks (Guys and Dolls, A Funny Thing...Forum, Smokey Joe's Café), the production features choreography by Tony and Olivier Award nominee Anthony Van Laast (Mamma Mia, Bombay Dreams) and is based on the Touchstone Pictures motion picture Sister Act written by Joseph Howard.

When disco diva Deloris Van Cartier witnesses a murder, she is put in protective custody in the one place cops are sure she won't be found - a convent! Disguised as a nun, she finds herself at odds with both the rigid lifestyle and an uptight Mother Superior. Using her fabulous disco-ness and killer voice to inspire the choir, Deloris breathes new life into the church and community, but in doing so blows her cover. Soon it's nun-on-the-run time but she finds salvation in the heavenly power of her newly found sisterhood. Based on the mega-hit feature film, SISTER ACT features an original Alan Menken/Glenn Slater score with a vast inspiration of musical styles from Motown, soul and funk to great big disco anthems and Barry White inspired musical comedy.
SISTER ACT will feature scenery by Klara Zieglerova, costumes by Lez Brotherston, lighting by Natasha Katz, and sound by John Shivers. The music department includes Musical Supervisor Michael Kosarin, Music Director B.A. Huffman, and orchestrations by Doug Besterman.

Fred Applegate (Monsignor) was most recently in the Broadway production La Cage Aux Folles. London: The Producers (Max). Broadway: The Producers, Young Frankenstein, The Sound of Music. Off-Broadway: Happiness (LCT), Fanny (Encores!). Regional/tours: The Producers, Beauty and the Beast, American Clock, Macbeth, Candide, Waiting for Godot, Uncle Vanya, many more. TV: Eleven pilots, five series, three recurring, 150+ episodes. Three movies. Three wonderful children, one patient, beautiful wife: Cherie Sprosty. www.fredapplegate.com.

Sarah Bolt (Sister Mary Patrick) was most recently in the Broadway production of Wicked. Other credits include Walmartopia (Off-Broadway), Godspell (Paper Mill Playhouse), Grease (European tour), Bat Boy (1812 Productions) and her one-woman show, I Am Not the Girl Next Door (1812 Productions).

John Treacy Egan (Joey). Broadway: Bye, Bye Birdie; The Little Mermaid, Chef Louis; The Producers, Max Bialystock/Roger DeBris/Franz Liebkind; Jekyll & Hyde. Off-Broadway: Batboy, When Pigs Fly! TV: "30 Rock," "Law & Order." Film: Last Night (2009), The Producers (2006). Solo CD: Count the Stars (2008), On Christmas Morning (2009). www.johntreacyegan.com

Demond Green (TJ) most recently appeared in The Toxic Avenger off-Broadway and at the George Street Playhouse. Other regional credits include: A Midsummer Night's Dream (McCarter Theatre/Paper Mill Playhouse), Two Gentlemen of Verona (Baltimore CenterStage), The Wiz (La Jolla Playhouse), The 25th Annual Putman County Spelling Bee (Barrington Stage/North Shore), European Tour: Hair. TV/Film: "Jimmy Kimmel Live," The Peep Show. Mr. Green holds a B.F.A in Drama and Classical performance from Texas State University and has also studied with both the Royal Shakespeare Company and The Shakespeare Institute in Stratford-Upon-Avon, England.www.myspace.com/demondsmusic.

Chester Gregory (Eddie) is an award-winning actor/performer/singer/songwriter, who was most recently seen as James "Thunder" Early in Dreamgirls at the Apollo Theater and on national tour. Broadway: Hairspray (Seaweed), Cry-Baby (Dupree) and Tarzan (Terk). Other credits include Jackie Wilson in The Jackie Wilson Story (Jeff, AUDELCO, BTAA and Black Excellence Awards), Hairspray (movie), and performing for Michael Jackson. Chester has a BFA from Columbia Chicago. His music is available at www.ChesterGregory.com.

Kingsley Leggs (Curtis). Broadway: The Color Purple, Miss Saigon. Tours: Miss Saigon (1st nat'l, Toronto, Asia, UK), Ragtime (Toronto, L.A., Vancouver), It Ain't Nothing But the Blues, Forbidden Hollywood (Japan). Regional credits include The Full Monty (Gateway Playhouse), Two Gentlemen of Verona (Baltimore Centerstage), Chasing Nicolette (Prince Music Theatre), Violet (Laguna Playhouse), Almost Heaven (Denver Center Theatre), Cry the Beloved Country and The House of Martin Guerre (Goodman Theatre) and Oedipus the King (St. Louis Black Repertory Co.). Kingsley received L.A. Ovation Award nominations for his work in Dreamgirls (Curtis) and Ragtime (Coalhouse). TV: "City of Angels" (CBS).

Marla Mindelle (Sister Mary Robert) recently appeared on Broadway in the acclaimed revival of South Pacific. National tours: The Drowsy Chaperone (Kitty, first national). NY credits: The Hudsucker Proxy (MTC), Piece (NAMT), Beatsville (NAMT). Regional: The Wild Party (Queenie, New Repertory Theatre), The Pirate (Prince Music Theater), Cats and Songs for a New World. Marla received a BFA from Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. www.marlamindelle.com.

Audrie Neenan (Sister Mary Lazarus) made her Broadway debut opposite Faye Dunaway in William Alfred's Curse of an Aching Heart, directed by Gerald Gutierrez. Other Broadway appearances include The Odd Couple (as Florence Unger in the female version), and Picnic. She recently appeared off-Broadway in Christopher Durang's Why Torture is Wrong and the People Who Love Them at The Public Theatre. Her many regional credits include roles at The Goodman Theatre, Seattle Rep, The Apollo (Tintypes, for which she won the Joseph Jefferson award), the Chicago Shakespeare Festival, the Actor's Theatre of Louisville, and Yale Rep, where she starred in The Adventures of Amy Bock. Film credits include Doubt, Ghost Town, and The Departed, among many others.

Caesar Samayoa (Pablo): theatre credits include leading roles on Broadway, Off-Broadway and in regional theatre companies around the country, including La Jolla Playhouse, Yale Rep., Huntington Theatre, Le Freres Corbusier, Primary Stages, Urban Stages, The Play Company, Prince Music Theater and Contemporary American Theatre Festival. CaesarSamayoa.com.

SISTER ACT will be performed at the Broadway Theatre (1681 Broadway) on the following schedule from March 24 - April 17: Monday - Saturday at 8pm and Saturday at 2pm with added performances on Wednesday, April 6 at 2pm, Wednesday, April 13 at 2pm, Sunday, April 24 at 3pm. There will be no performance on Thursday, April 21 at 8pm.

Beginning April 25, the performance schedule will be: Tuesday at 7pm, Wednesday - Saturday at 8pm, Wednesday and Saturday at 2pm, and Sunday at 3pm.

Tickets, ranging in price from $51.50 - $126.50, can be purchased via www.telecharge.com or by calling 212-239-6200.

For more information, please visit www.sisteractthemusical.com