Emma Degerstedt, Conor Ryan, Lauren Molina and More to Lead DESPERATE MEASURES at York Theatre Company; Cast, Creatives Set!

The York Theatre Company, dedicated to the development of new musicals and preserving musical gems from the past, in association with Cecilia Lin and Hu Guo, has announced the cast and creative team of The New York premiere of the musical Desperate Measures, with book and lyrics by Peter Kellogg (Anna Karenina) and music by David Friedman (Scandalous).

Directed and choreographed by Bill Castellino (Marry Harry, Cagney) and with music direction by David Hancock Turner (The World Will Not Contain Us), the six-member cast will feature Emma Degerstedt (The Little Mermaid) as Susanna/Sister Mary Jo, Gary Marachek (Camelot) as Father Morse, Lauren Molina (Rock of Ages) as Bella Rose, Conor Ryan (john and jen) as Johnny Blood, Peter Saide (Skin Tight) as Sheriff Green, and Nick Wyman (Les Misérables) as Governor von Richterhenkenpflichtgetruber.

The limited engagement of Desperate Measures begins Tuesday, September 19, 2017 continuing through Sunday, October 15, 2017 at The York Theatre Company at Saint Peter's (619 Lexington Avenue, entrance on East 54th Street, just east of Lexington Avenue). Opening Night is Sunday evening, October 1, 2017 at 6:00 p.m.

In 1890, in a territory out West, Johnny Blood, a hot-tempered young cowboy is sentenced to hang for killing a man in a bar fight. His sister, a novice nun in a nearby mission, is persuaded to plead with a corrupt governor to spare her brother's life. The governor promises to pardon Johnny if his sister, the Sister, will 'do his bidding' for the night. Adding to the humorous complications are a hard-bitten sheriff, a voluptuous saloon girl and a priest who reads Nietzsche.

The York Theatre Company opens its 2017-18 Season with Desperate Measures, the foot-stompin', knee-slappin' new musical with a nod to Shakespeare's Measure for Measure. It's funny, it's sexy, it's country, and it's a New York premiere with music by award-winning composer David Friedman and book and lyrics by two-time Tony nominee Peter Kellogg.

"The York Theatre is delighted to announce its first Mainstage production of the 2017-18 Season, Desperate Measures," stated James Morgan, York Producing Artistic Director. "We have gotten to know and love it over the last year, having hosted it in two presentations -- and we couldn't be more excited. It's the perfect season opener: smart, tuneful, funny, and extremely touching. We hope you will join us for this hilarious new musical comedy!"

The creative team includes James Morgan (set), Nicole Wee (costumes), Paul Miller (lights), Julian Evans (sound), Deb Gaouette (props), Carol Hanzel (casting), Joseph Hayward (associate director), and Kevin Maloof (production manager). The Production Stage Manager is Christine Lemme with Assistant Stage Manager Laura C. Nelson.

Desperate Measures will play the following performance schedule: Tuesdays & Wednesdays at 7:00 p.m., Thursdays at 2:30 p.m., Fridays at 8:00 p.m., Saturdays at 2:30 p.m.* & 8:00 p.m., and Sundays at 2:30 p.m. (*Audience discussion follows the matinee performance.) Please note: There are special matinees scheduled for Wednesday, September 27 and Thursday, September 28, both at 2:30 p.m. There are no evening performances on those dates. Opening night is Sunday evening, October 1, 2017 at 6:00 p.m.

Tickets for Desperate Measures are priced at $67.50 - $72.50 and may be purchased by calling (212) 935-5820, online at www.yorktheatre.org, or in person at the box office at the York Theatre at Saint Peter's (Citicorp Building, entrance on East 54th Street, just east of Lexington Avenue), Monday through Friday (12:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.). Senior Rush tickets are available in-person beginning one hour prior to performances for $20 cash only. Student rush tickets can be purchased anytime in advance at the box office during regular box office business hours. Limit one ticket per valid student ID and tickets are subject to availability. Student Rush tickets are $20.00 cash or credit. The York Theatre also offers $25 tickets for guests aged 35 years and under. Groups of 10 or more, contact Great White Way at 212-757-9117, or GreatWhiteWay.com.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS:

Emma Degerstedt (Susanna/Sister Mary Jo) is delighted to be making her Off-Broadway debut! Recent credits: Ariel in The Little Mermaid (The Muny), Elle Woods in Legally Blonde (Ovation Award nominee, most recently under the direction of Laura Bell Bundy) TV/Film: "Unfabulous," "The Big Bang Theory," "Hannah Montana," "Life," "Monk," "Samantha Who?" and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Additional Theatre: 13 (original LA cast, Drama Critics Circle Award recipient), The Little Mermaid (Tuacahn), Company, Sleeping Beauty (Pasadena Playhouse) Rocky Horror, Xanadu, A Chorus Line.

Gary Marachek (Father Morse) This is Gary's second appearance at the York. Theatres: Walnut Street, Asolo, TUTS, Pittsburgh CLO, Goodspeed, Paper Mill Playhouse, Ford's Theatre, Jane Street Theatre, Lion Theatre, Westchester Broadway, Actors' Playhouse, Florida Studio Theatre, Theatre by the Sea, Riverside Theatre, Cape May Stage, Coconut Grove, Drury Lane, North Carolina State Theatre, The Palace, dozens more. Roles: Felix Ungar, King Arthur, John Adams, Sancho, Thénardier, Albin/Zaza, Dr. Watson, Scrooge, Mr. Applegate, Doolittle, dozens more. Gary is a published author, headliner/MC in Vegas shows, and singer in Cirque Dreams. 300+ Equity productions, principal in 50+ commercials, principal in feature films and 12-time award-winning actor.

Lauren Molina (Bella Rose) Broadway: Rock of Ages (Regina), Sweeney Todd (Johanna). Off Broadway: Co-starred in Sondheim's Marry Me a Little (Drama League nomination) and originated Megan in Nobody Loves You at Second Stage. Regional: Squeaky Fromme in Assassins, Eileen in Wonderful Town, Countess in A Little Night Music, Cunegonde in Candide (Helen Hayes Award), Audrey in Little Shop of Horrors, Janet in The Rocky Horror Show. She's half of the acclaimed comedy-pop duo The Skivvies. www.LaurenMolina.com | www.TheSkivviesNYC.com

Conor Ryan (Johnny Blood) is thrilled to be making his York debut in Desperate Measures. He most recently played Chris McCandless in the developmental production of the new musical, Into the Wild. Off-Broadway: Keen Company's revival of John and Jen (with Kate Baldwin), 2nd Stage's Invisible Thread, and The Public Theater's The Fortress of Solitude. He made his Broadway debut in Rodgers+Hammerstein's Cinderella. Training: BFA University of Michigan, Walnut Hill School for the Arts, Perry-Mansfield Performing Arts Camp.

Peter Saide (Sheriff Green) Off-Broadway: Skin Tight (Tom, OYL/59E59), Death for Five Voices (Fabrizio, Prospect). Favorites: Jersey Boys (Bob, Vegas), The Prince opposite Lea Salonga in Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella (Int'l Tour). Regional: Death Takes a Holiday (Death/Sirki, Arvada Center), Disney's Beauty and the Beast (Gaston, all over), Sense and Sensibility (Willoughby, Chicago Shakespeare Theater/Old Globe), Oklahoma! (Jud, Paramount), Carmen (Don Jose, Tectonic), 1776 (Rutledge, Engeman), Into the Woods (Cinderella's Prince/Wolf, Utah Shakespeare Festival). @petersaide

Nick Wyman (Governor von Richterhenkenpflichtgetruber) Broadway: Catch Me If You Can, Phantom of the Opera, Les Misérables, My Fair Lady, Sly Fox, ten others. Feature films: Die Hard: With a Vengeance, Planes, Trains and Automobiles, Funny Farm, others. Television: "Veep," "Boardwalk Empire," "One Life to Live," "Good Wife," others. Regional theaters: Shakespeare to Durang at the Guthrie, Arena Stage, Goodman Theater, Asolo Rep, Hartford Stage, Pittsburgh Public, others. Former President and proud 40-year-member of Actors' Equity Association.

Bill Castellino (Director & Choreographer) World Premieres: Cagney (York, Westside Theatre, FL, Canada, LA in October), Soulmates, The Great Divorce, Grumpy Old Men, Jolson, Dr. Radio, Lizzie Borden, Heartbeats, Miklat, Fishwrap, A House Divided, Singing Weatherman, Happy Holidays, Presidents, Crash Club, Another Summer, Breathe, others. Also: Marry Harry (York), Storyville (York), Ionescopade (York, LA, DC), Tarzan, Rent, Nightclub Cantata, Fame, Jolson, Chess, Gypsy, Rocky Horror, ...Spelling Bee, Carousel, Drood, Godspell, Music Man, West Side Story, Joseph..., Tommy, Little Shop, Beehive, Evita, Oliver, Cabaret, Abyssinia, Last Five Years, Spitfire Grill, Hair, others. And: National/International Tours, Television, Special Events. Awards including Joseph Jefferson, 4 LA Weekly, 11 Drama-Logue, Telly; numerous nominations including Lortel, Audelco, Carbonell. Proud member of SDC.

David Hancock Turner (Music Director) is a composer and music director working in musical theater. Most recently, his musical The World Will Not Contain Us (written with playwright Christopher Shinn) was presented in a reading by The New Group in December 2016. His original children's musical Cinderella-A Fairy's Tale has had productions at the Summer Theater of New Canaan over the past two years. He is an active pianist and music director with credits that include several City Center Encores! productions (Irma La Douce, Zorba!, Do I Hear a Waltz?), Passion at CSC, and many seasons at the Summer Theater of New Canaan. His collection of songs and sounds have been presented at venues in New York City and beyond as diverse as Ars Nova, Anthology Film Archives, IRT Theater, New Dramatists, The Living Room, The Clurman Theater at Theater Row, The Brick Theater in Williamsburg, The Fort Salem Theater, and the Ontological-Hysteric. He also teaches piano and coaches an eclectic variety of singers.

Peter Kellogg (Book & Lyrics) has two Tony nominations for book and lyrics to Anna Karenina (composer Dan Levine), which has had three acclaimed tours in Japan. With David Friedman, he has also created Chasing Nicolette (based on the French romance, Aucassin and Nicolette), produced at Westport Playhouse, the Prince and Village Theatre in Seattle; Stunt Girl, about Nellie Bly, New York City's first female reporter, which premiered at Village; Lincoln in Love, about the young Abe Lincon; and Money Talks, which recently has a run at the Davenport Theatre. With composer Steve Weiner, he's created a 10-person musical based on Sheridan's The Rivals.

David Friedman (Music & Vocal Arrangements) has written songs for everyone from Disney to Diana Ross; has written four other musicals with Peter Kellogg (Money Talks (Off Broadway run at the Davenport Theatre), Aucassin and Nicolette (Barrymore Award for best score) Stunt Girl, and Lincoln in Love); collaborated with Deborah Brevoort on King Island Christmas; has performed his revue Listen to My Heart: The Songs of David Friedman for audiences Off-Broadway, all over America, and abroad; wrote songs for The Lizzie McGuire Movie, Aladdin and the King of Thieves, Bambi II, and Trick; scored three television series; contributed music to Broadway's Scandalous;conducted and vocal arranged six musicals on Broadway and numerous Disney animated films, including Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, Pocahontas, and The Hunchback of Notre Dame; produced all of the late/great Nancy Lamott's CDs and wrote many of her best-known songs; and is currently in his 8th year of co-writing a song a month with Kathie Lee Gifford for the "Everyone Has a Story" segment on "The Today Show."

The York Theatre Company is the only theatre in New York City-and one of very few in the world-dedicated to developing and fully producing new musicals and preserving neglected, notable shows from the past. For over four decades, York's intimate, imaginative style of producing both original and classic musicals has resulted in critical acclaim and recognition from artists and audiences alike. Under the guidance of Producing Artistic Director James Morgan since 1997, the York has focused on new musicals in its Mainstage Series-most of them world, American, or New York premieres-by some of the field's most esteemed creators, and has also helped launch the careers of many talented new writers. Over 35 cast recordings from York Theatre Company productions are now available on CD, including its acclaimed revival of Closer Than Ever (2013 Off-Broadway Alliance Award for Best Revival); commercial transfers of such York premieres as The Musical of Musicals (The Musical!), Souvenir (Tony Award Nomination for actress Judy Kaye), and Jolson & Company, and revivals of Pacific Overtures and Sweeney Todd (four Tony Nominations including Best Revival) have all showcased the importance of the York and its programs. Recent New York premieres have included Marry Harry, A Taste of Things to Come, and Rothschild & Sons. The critically acclaimed musical Yank, which received its Off-Broadway debut at the York in 2010, has just opened to rave reviews in London and the original York Theatre/Off-Broadway cast of the hit musical Cagney, which received its New York premiere in 2015 and subsequently transferred to the Westside Theater, will begin performances in the fall in Los Angeles.