Photo Flash: First Look At Reimagined 42ND STREET At The Ordway Center For The Performing Arts

The Ordway Center for the Performing Arts is thrilled to announce the final casting for the Ordway Original production of "42nd Street" which begins performances on July 23 and continues for 24 performances through Aug. 11.

This Ordway Original production, a reinvented version of the Broadway classic, was previously produced at Chicago's Drury Lane Theatre, garnering rave reviews.

Tamara Tunie stars as leading lady Dorothy Brock in this new production at the Ordway. Tunie is an award-winning actor and producer who tackles a myriad of roles including D.C. power player Eunice Clayton on "Black Earth Rising" on BBC/Netflix, welcoming, but stern Julia Smith on AMC's "Dietland," tribal leader Marie Van Der Veen on "The Red Road" on Sundance TV and as medical examiner Dr. Melinda Warner on the legendary NBC TV series "Law & Order: SVU." Tunie's Broadway producing credits include "Spring Awakening," the winner of the 2007 Tony Award for Best Musical. "42nd Street" will be Tunie's Ordway and Twin Cities debut.

Jarrod Emick will play visionary Broadway producer Julian Marsh. Emick received a Tony Award, Drama Desk Award and Theatre World Award for best featured actor in a musical for his performance as Joe Hardy in the Broadway production of "Damn Yankees." This will be Emick's second time at the Ordway, having appeared before in "Les Misérables."

Award-winning director Michael Heitzman conceived and directs this reimagined "42nd Street." Choreography is by Jared Grimes, who is an Astaire Award-winning dancer and tap and hip-hop/street jazz choreographer, who has performed alongside legends such as Wynton Marsalis and Gregory Hines. Both Heitzman and Grimes were nominated for Chicago's Jeff Awards for their work on "42nd Street," and Grimes won for his choreography.

"For this new, reinvented production of the beloved Broadway musical '42nd Street' we're looking at the show through a different lens. It will capitalize on all the show-biz glamour of the much-lauded original, but reimagined to reflect the world we live in today so it can speak directly to a contemporary audience," said Heitzman. "Ordway audiences will be the first to experience this exciting new version of this beloved Broadway backstage musical classic."

"This production celebrates what everyone knows and loves about '42nd Street' but it also completely reimagines the show," said Rod Kaats, the Ordway's Producing Artistic Director. "With incredible new jazz-funk orchestrations, innovative designs and electrifying, jaw-dropping tap dancing, this production joins the ever-growing list of Broadway musicals that are being updated for today's audiences; so many that they've coined a new term for them: 'revisicals.' We're over-the-moon excited about it!"

Tickets and subscriptions are available at Ordway.org or by calling the Ordway Ticketing Office at 651-224-4222.

Photo Credit: Paul Tate dePoo III

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