HANDS ON A HARDBODY Begins Previews on Broadway Today

The new American musical Hands on a Hardbody begins preview performances today, February 23, 2013 at 8pm at Broadway's Brooks Atkinson Theatre (256 West 47th Street), with an official opening night of Thursday, March 21, 2013.

Inspired by true events and based on the acclaimed 1997 documentary of the same name that was created by S.R. Bindler and produced by Bindler and Kevin Morris, the musical features a book by Doug Wright (Pulitzer Prize winner, I Am My Own Wife), lyrics by Amanda Green (Bring It On: The Musical), music by Trey Anastasio (Phish) and Amanda Green, direction by Neil Pepe (Broadway's Speed-The-Plow), and musical staging by Sergio Trujillo (Memphis, Jersey Boys).

For ten hard-luck Texans, a new lease on life is so close they can touch it. Under a scorching sun for days on end, armed with nothing but hope, humor and ambition, they'll fight to keep at least one hand on a brand new truck in order to win it. In the hilarious, hard-fought contest that is Hands on a Hardbody only one winner can drive away with the American Dream.

The Broadway production will feature the full cast from the La Jolla Playhouse engagement: Keith Carradine (Tony Award nominee, The Will Rogers Follies), Allison Case (Hair), Hunter Foster (Tony Award nominee, Little Shop of Horrors), Jay Armstrong Johnson (Catch Me If You Can), David Larsen (American Idiot), Jacob Ming-Trent (Shrek The Musical), Kathleen Elizabeth Monteleone (Tales of the City), Mary GorDon Murray (Into The Woods), Jim Newman (Curtains), Connie Ray (Next Fall), Jon Rua (In The Heights), Keala Settle (Priscilla Queen of the Desert), Dale Soules (Hair), Scott Wakefield (Ring of Fire), and William Youmans (Wicked).

HANDS ON A HARDBODY also boasts an award-winning design team including scenic design by Tony Award winner Christine Jones (American Idiot), costume design by Tony Award winner Susan Hilferty (Wicked), lighting design by Tony Award winner Kevin Adams (Spring Awakening), sound design by Tony Award winner Steve Canyon Kennedy (Jersey Boys), orchestrations by Trey Anastasio and Don Hart, and vocal arrangements/musical direction by Carmel Dean (American Idiot).

The La Jolla Playhouse production of Hands on a Hardbody is produced on Broadway by Broadway Across America - Beth Williams, Barbara Whitman/Latitude Link, Dede Harris/Sharon Karmazin, Howard & Janet Kagan, and John & Claire Caudwell, Rough Edged Souls, Joyce Primm Schweickert, Paula Black/Bruce Long, and Off The Aisle Productions/Freitag-Mishkin.

The world premiere production of Hands on a Hardbody opened Saturday, May 12 at La Jolla Playhouse and played a limited engagement through Sunday, June 17. Hands on a Hardbody was commissioned by La Jolla Playhouse (Christopher Ashley, Artistic Director & Michael S. Rosenberg, Managing Director).

THE RUSH TICKET POLICY FOR Hands on a Hardbody WILL BE AS FOLLOWS: A limited number of $32.00 rush tickets (price includes $2.00 facility fee) will be available for every performance. These rush tickets, which are available to all patrons, are cash only and can be purchased at the box office only, beginning at 10:00am the day of the performance. There is a limit of 2 tickets per person.

Tickets for Hands on a Hardbody range from $55 - $155, and are available at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre box office and at Ticketmaster.com (877-250-2929). The playing schedule from today, February 23 through March 20 is as follows: Monday at 8pm, Tuesday at 8pm, Wednesday at 2pm and 8pm, Thursday at 8pm, Friday at 8pm, Saturday at 2pm and 8pm. Beginning March 22nd, the playing schedule is as follows: Monday at 7:30pm, Tuesday at 7:30pm, Wednesday at 2pm and 7:30pm, Thursday at 7:30pm, Friday at 8pm, Saturday at 2pm and 8pm. Please note that there is no 2pm performance on Wednesday, February 27th.

For more information, visit www.handsonahardbody.com.