Beautiful Soup's RAGS Opens Tonight Off-Broadway

The Beautiful Soup Theater, whose revival of Moose Murders recently played The Connelly Theatre, will return to that venue in May with a production of the short-lived musical RAGS. The musical, which closed on Broadway after only four performances in 1986, features a masterful score by Charles Strouse (Annie, Applause, Bye, Bye, Birdie!), lyrics by two-time Academy Award winner Stephen Schwartz and a libretto by Joseph Stein. The musical has undergone extensive revisions over the years, and this version will reflect material from both the well-received 1994 American Jewish Theatre production and the 2011 Lyric Stage production.

The previously announced Anna Kirkland (A Doll's Life, Moose Murders) stars as Rebecca Hershkowitz, with Barnaby Edwards as Ben, Erin Elizabeth Eichhorn as Bella, Linda Wielkotz as Rachel, Andrew Dorph as Avram, Kenneth Kyle Martinez as Saul, Christopher Leidenfrost as Nathan and Jeremiah Burch as David. They are joined by Daniel Beason, Dan Cake, Salvatore Casto, Emily Brillig, Emma Brock, Joris De Graaf, Morgan DeTogne, Lily Drexler, Bill Kaufman, Harmony McGivey, David Speer, Amanda Szymczak, Samantha Mercado and Dana Feinberg.

Artistic Director Steven Carl McCasland helms the production, with musical direction by Jordon Cunningham, lighting by Charlie Winter, projections by Brad Peterson and choreography by Avital Asuleen. Kyle Rosenberg stage manages.

A portion of Box Office proceeds from this production will benefit The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. JDRF is the leader of the type 1 diabetes community-unifying global efforts to cure, treat, and prevent T1D. Through a transformative vision, breakthrough innovations, and effective operations, JDRF is working to remove the impact of T1D from people's lives until we achieve a world without T1D. To learn more, visit www.jdrf.org.

The limited engagement will open at The Connelly Theatre tonight, May 29th, 2013 and runs through June 9th. For more information, visit www.beautifulsouptheatercollective.org. Tickets ($25-30) are available now at http://beautifulsoup.showclix.com.