Cast Set For THE LINCOLNS OF SPRINGFIELD at Hoogland Center for the Arts

Matthew Patrick Davis, DEBORAH ROBIN, ROSEMARY BLANKSON, and MICHAL DAWSON CONNOR will bring Terrence L. Cranert's stirring new musical love story to life. The cast is completed with a gospel choir featuring Jacquelyn Levy, Linda Broadus Miles, Lacy Nicole Mason, and Philip David Hunter and a talented ensemble featuring Noah Heie, Casey Ryan, Megan Holeman, Lauren Barette, Catherine Oregon, Christine Gillilan, Matt DeNoto, and Michael Reese Shald.

This musical for the entire family premiers in Springfield, Illinois, with sights set on New York. Performances start June 15 at Hoogland Center for the Arts - Peggy Ryder Theater, 420 South Sixth Street, Springfield, Illinois, and running through July 30.

The Lincolns of Springfield tells the love story you won't find in the history books. The audience is led down a delightfully romantic path leading to the marriage of the most unlikely of couples, Mary Todd and Abe Lincoln, a Southern Belle and a backwoods genius. The Lincolns of Springfield chronicles the incredible story of one of America's greatest President and his much-loved wife, from their first meeting through the end of the Civil War.

From the moment the curtain rises, audiences are drawn into two very different worlds... Mary's tumultuous world of the antebellum South-with gentility and honor juxtaposed against the backdrop of the scourge of slavery-and Abe's vibrant, fearless world of possibilities that is America's new frontier.

Currently scheduled to perform throughout June, July and August at the Peggy Ryder Theater of the Hoogland Center for the Arts, the producers are currently in negotiation to bring the production to the New York stage.

MEET THE CAST

Matthew Patrick Davis (ABRAHAM LINCOLN) Broadway credits include Side Show. Regional credits include The Wizard of Oz (TACFA); The Nightingale, Limelight, A Midsummer Night's Dream (La Jolla Playhouse); A Cinderella Christmas, South Street (Pasadena Playhouse); Haunted House Party (Getty Villa); Four Chords and a Gun (Bootleg Theater); The Complete History of America (abridged) (Falcon Theatre). He is a recipient of the LA Ovation Award.

DEBORAH ROBIN (MARY TODD LINCOLN) has also played the lead character of Doris Day in Day After Day: The Life and Music of Doris Day for which she was named Best Actress in a Musical by the Orange County Theater Guild. She also played Mary Poppins at Center Theater Group, Christine in Phantom of the Opera and Belle in Beauty & the Beast among others.

ROSEMARY BLANKSON (ELIZABETH KECKLEY) is also a licensed music educator and experienced vocal coach and has taught both in Georgia and California. Rosemary is a member of the Actor's Equity Association and originated the role of Elizabeth Keckley in the debut of The Lincolns of Springfield. She has starred in many theatrical and stage productions including Hairspray, Once on This Island, Smokey Joe's Cafe and Thoroughly Modern Millie, to name a few.

MICHAL DAWSON CONNOR (TOM LINCOLN) is an accomplished performer and composer of choral, chamber, and solo vocal works, with a particular emphasis on slave songs created before the Civil War. Broadway credits include featured performances in the Tony-Award winning productions of RAGTIME and SHOWBOAT as well as starring roles in productions of THE MOST HAPPY FELLA, BIG RIVER, and PORGY AND BESS. He's immensely proud of performing for Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Reverend Billy Graham, Elizabeth Dole, and Admiral Michael Mullen.

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