Milwaukee Repertory Theater Announces Casting for ASSASSINS

Milwaukee Repertory Theater announced casting today for the groundbreaking American musicalAssassins, the first production in The Rep's Quadracci Powerhouse for the 2012/13 Season. The bold, original, thought-provoking and alarmingly funny play is a five-time Tony Award-winner. Assassins investigates the personalities behind nine Presidential assassins and reveals uneasy truths about the American Dream. Directed by Artistic Director Mark Clements, this will be the third musical that Clements has directed during his tenure at The Rep following last season's hit Next to Normal and Cabaret from his first season. With the selection of Assassins for the 2012/13 Season, Milwaukee Repertory Theater shows its commitment to continuing to produce full-scale musicals as part of its repertoire. Assassins runs in the Quadracci Powerhouse from September 4 – October 7, and opens onFriday, September 7.

 

The cast for Assassins will include Luke Brotherhood, seen here last season in Rep Lab's play Normal, Jonathan Gillard Daly andLee E. Ernst, both recently seen in last season's bestselling production of To Kill a Mockingbird, Steve French, Melissa Joy Hart,Evan Harrington, Sarah Litzsinger, who dazzled audiences as Diana in Next to Normal last season, Adam Monley, Caroline O'Connor, who did the stunning one-woman show Bombshells during the 2010/11 Season, Chris Peluso, Mark Price and Brian Sills. Accompanying in the chorus will be Jonathan Altman, Kelley Faulkner, who performed the role of Patsy in last season's popular cabaret show Always . . .Patsy Cline, Ray Jivoff, a frequent artist seen at Skylight Music Theatre and Milwaukee audience favorite,Alex Keiper and JR Yancher. Assassins will also feature an ensemble which features members of The Rep's Artistic Intern Ensemble including: Emily Berman, Lamar Jefferson, Toni Linn Martin, Jessi Noel, Tyrone Phillips, Jess Prichard, Jamie Rezanour,Teddy Spencer, Bri Sudia, Trequon Tate and Mercedes White.

 

Musicians for Assassins include: Blaire Bielawski (Tenor/Soprano/Saxophone/ Clarinet/Bass Clarinet); Anton Hatwich (Bass); Dan Kazemi (Musical Director/Keyboard/Synthesizer) who music directed Next to Normal and Always . . . Patsy Cline last season; Patrick Morrow (Drums/Percussion) who performed in last season's Next to Normal; Kyle Samuelson (Trombone/Euphonium), Barrie Shaw(Reed 1); Tom Schleuter (Trumpet/Flugel/Cornet) and John Zaffiro (Guitar/Mandolin).

 

"I am eager to direct Stephen Sondheim's thought-provoking musical Assassins," says Artistic Director Mark Clements. "It's a riveting exploration of such issues as the meaning of exploitation, our obsession with celebrity status, our attitudes about guns and gun control, as well as how a society can be complicit in facilitating the violent behavior of some its of deranged citizens."

 

The cast for Assassins:

John Altman – Chorus

Luke Brotherhood – Billy

Jonathan Gillard Daly – Proprietor

Lee E. Ernst – Samuel Byck

Kelley Faulkner – Chorus

Steve French – Leon Czolgosz

Evan Harrington – John Hinkley

Melissa Joy Hart – Emma Goldman

Ray Jivoff – Chorus

Alex Keiper – Chorus

Sarah Litzsinger – Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme

Adam Monley – John Wilkes Booth

Caroline O'Connor – Sara Jane Moore

Chris Peluso – Balladeer/Lee Harvey Oswald

Mark Price – Charles Guiteau

Brian Sills – Giuseppe Zangara

JR Yanker – Chorus

 

Luke Brotherhood (Billy) returns to The Rep after performing in the play Normal, part of Rep Lab, The Rep's short one-act play festival, last season; Jonathan Gillard Daly (Proprietor), a Rep Associate Artist, was seen last year in To Kill a Mockingbird and A Christmas Carol; he has performed in many roles at The Rep since 1998 including Ebenezer Scrooge in A Christmas Carol; Daly is also a founding member of the Great River Shakespeare Festival in Winona, MN; Lee E. Ernst (Samuel Byck), also a Rep Associate Artist, was most recently seen as Brabantio/Montano in Othello, Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird and the title role in Lombardi; he has performed in over a 100 roles at The Rep since he joined The Acting Company in 1993; Ernst is also an accomplished fight choreographer and does fight choreography across the country; Steve French (Leon Czolgosz) will be making his Rep debut; Off-Broadway credits include In Transit and The Burnt Part Boys; regionally he has performed with Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, Monomoy Theatre, Hartford Stage Company, ALLIANCE THEATRE and Goodspeed Musicals, among others; Evan Harrington (John Hinkley) will also be making his Rep debut; on Broadway he has appeared in The Phantom of the Opera (Piangi Magestic Theatre) and Avenue Q (Brian John Golden Theatre); national tours include The Music Man, Phantom and Camelot; regionally he has performed with Baker New Repertory Theatre, Dave Bukatinsky Forestburgh Playhouse, Arizona Theatre Company, New Repertory Theatre and Geva Theatre; Melissa Joy Hart (Emma Goldman) will also be making her Rep debut; credits include Amadeus (Walnut Street Theatre Company); Fat Pig (Theatre Horizon) and High School Musical, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat andGrease (New Candlelight Productions); Sarah Litzsinger (Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme) returns to The Rep after performing the role of Diana in last year's smash-hit musical, Next to Normal; this summer she was honored as a Lunt-Fontanne fellow by the Ten Chimneys Foundation; Kitzsinger holds the distinction of being Broadway's longest running Belle in Disney's Beauty and the Beast; she has also been seen on Broadway in Marilyn, An American Fable, Oliver! The Revival, Les Miserables and Amour; Adam Monley (John Wilkes Booth) will also be making his Rep debut with Assassins; credits include Fanny Hill (Off-Broadway) and Love Incorporated(New York); Romeo and Bernadette (Paper Mill Production) and Mamma Mia! (Original Broadway Production); Caroline O'Connor(Sara Jane Moore), an accomplished international stage and film actress, returns to The Rep after performing all six roles in The Rep's 2010/11 production of Bombshells; West End/UK productions include Mack and Mabel, Romance, Romance, Street Scene, Hot Stuff,Matador, Budgie, The Rink, Cabaret, Me and My Girl, Showboat, Damn Yankees, Baby, Into the Woods and A Chorus Line, among others; film credits include Moulin Rouge and De-Lovely; Chris Peluso (Balladeer/Lee Harvey Oswald), a Broadway actor, will also be making his Rep debut; Broadway productions include Mamma Mia!, Lestat and Assassins; he has extensive regional theater credits and originated the roles of John Robert in Ace and Sebastian in Illyria; Mark Price (Charles Guiteau), a stage, television and film actor, will also be joining The Rep for the first time; Broadway credits include Mary Poppins, All Shook Up, Wonderful Town, Mamma Mia!, The Rocky Horror Picture Show and You're a Good Man Charlie Brown, among others; film and television credits include:Broadway's Finest, DJ Freaky (NBC) and Law & Order; Brian Sills (Giuseppe Zangara), makes his Rep debut with Assassins; he is a New York city-based actor originally from Toronto and a graduate of the prestigious Ryerson Theatre School; he made his Broadway debut in 2010 in 24 Hour Plays at American Airlines Theatre; Sills has toured nationally with The Lion King and has extensive regional theater credits; film and television credits include: Baby on Board, Nothing Like the Holidays, Powder, Rocky Marciano Usher (Showtime) and The Onion News Network.

 

CREATIVE TEAM

The Creative Team for Assassins includes: Mark Clements (Artistic Director/Director); Dan Kazemi (Music Director); Michael Pink(Additional Musical Staging); Todd Edward Ivins (Scenic Designer/Video Projections Designer); Alex Tecoma (Costume Designer);Jeff Nellis (Lighting Designer); Jon Weston (Sound Designer); Jill Walmsley Zager (Dialect Coach); Sean Foote (Assistant Sound Designer); Briana J. Fahey (Stage Manager); Laura F. Wendt (Assistant Stage Manager); Lenny Banovez (Assistant Director);Kaitlin Kitzmiller (Stage Management Intern) and Marissa Robinson (Stage Management Intern).

Tickets for Assassins are from $10 – $65 (prices are subject to change). Single Tickets for all of Milwaukee Repertory Theater's 2012/13 productions are now on sale. Single Tickets can be purchased online at www.MilwaukeeRep.com, through The Rep's Ticket Office by calling 414-224-9490 or in person at 108 E. Wells Street. Group tickets are also available for purchase by calling Patron Relations Manager Christine Yundem at 414-290-5340.

 

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