Steve Martin And Edie Brickell's BRIGHT STAR Opens Musical Theatre West's 18-19 Season

Musical Theatre West's 2018-2019 season opens with the regional theatre premiere of Steve Martin and Edie Brickell's bluegrass musical Bright Star at the Carpenter Performing Arts Center, October 19 - November 4. Tickets are now on sale at www.musical.org, by calling (562) 856-1999 ext. 4, or at the Musical Theatre West ticket office. Tickets start at $20 for select evening performances.

Grammy, Emmy and Academy Award­ winning Steve Martin and Grammy Award­ winning Edie Brickell's Bright Star earned critics praise as a fresh new American musical. Hailed as "A shining achievement" by The New York Times, the show earned five Tony nominations and won the Outer Critics Circle Awards for "Best New Broadway Musical" and "Outstanding New Score"; the Drama Desk Award for "Outstanding Music"; and earned a Grammy nomination for its original Broadway cast recording. Musical Theatre West's production is directed and choreographed by Richard Gatta (Grand Hotel and Zorba! - Encores!, Bright Star - Broadway and First National Tour). Dennis Castellano (MTW: White Christmas, Nice Work If You Can Get It) serves as music director. The production features the sets and costumes from the original Broadway production.

Inspired by real events, Bright Star is a sweeping tale of love and redemption, exploring the life of Alice Murphy (Anna Mintzer) at two different points of her life: in the 1920s as a wild young thing growing up barefoot and carefree in the Blue Ridge Mountains and in the 1940s as a well-to-do magazine editor in Asheville. As a young teen, Alice is hopelessly in love with small town heartthrob Jimmy Ray Dobbs (Devin Archer), the mayor's son but their love falls victim to the interference of his ambitious parents. Two decades later, Alice is the successful editor of The Asheville Southern Journal, where she meets Billy Cane (Taubert Nadalini), a promising young writer who awakens in her memories of her past life. Propelled by an ensemble of onstage musicians and dancers, the story is a rich tapestry of deep emotions.

Anna Mintzer (Alice Murphy) recently appeared in Carol Weiss' new musical The Door to America (Leah) as part of the 2018 SHE LA Summer Arts Festival at the Zephyr Theatre. Additional credits include the national tour of The Sound of Music, the world premiere reading of the new musical Rock and a Hard Place (Jermma) with The Players Theatre in New York, and Fathom Events' musical feature film Easter Mysteries (Joanna). She recently joined the new Amazon Prime series New Dogs, Old Tricks (Lauren).

A mainstay on the Southern California theater scene, Devin Archer (Jimmy Ray Dobbs) starred in numerous productions for McCoy Rigby and 3D Theatricals including Rent (Roger), The Last Five Years (Jimmy), and Tarzan (Tarzan), as well as working with Musical Theatre West in Les Misérables (Marius). On National Tour, Archer served as understudy for Jimmy Ray Dobbs in Bright Star, and as Sky in Mamma Mia!.

Taubert Nadalini (Billy Cane) recently finished shooting Sterling (Sam), an HBO pilot. Southern California audiences will recognize him for his turn as Prince Hans in Disney's Frozen: Live at the Hyperion at California Adventure. Additional credits include the Jonathan Flom-directed, new musical reading of Matthew Puckett's Rebel Genius (Albert Einstein) and the independent short film Seed. Nadalini is the recipient of the James and Nony Doolittle Award and the Stanley Musgrove Musical Award from University of Southern California.

This production is made possible thanks to the support of Season Sponsors: Ackerman Family/Evalyn M. Bauer Foundation, Kathy Baker Campbell and KC Wilson, Ken & Dottie Reiner, Don & Marlene Temple; Honorary Producers: Howard & Elaine Davis; Associate Producers: Schulzman-Neri Foundation. Avalee Wagner, and Joan Wells; Youth Performance Underwriters are Dr. Myron Bloom and Dr. Ron & Sylvia Hartman. Paul Garman serves as Executive Producer/Director of Musical Theatre West.

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