Nicolas Dromard, Nadine Isenegger Join MAKE MINE MANHATTAN

UnsungMusicalsCo. Inc. has announced complete casting for its new production of the hit 1948 musical revue Make Mine Manhattan. The limited three-week engagement will play March 1 – 17 at the Connelly Theatre (220 East 4th Street), opening March 4. With sketches and lyrics by Arnold B. Horwitt (Plain and Fancy, “The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis”) and music by Emmy Award winner Richard Lewine (“Cinderella”, “My Name is Barbra”), this new production is directed by UMC artistic director Ben West (Gatsby, How Now, Dow Jones, Platinum).

Nicolas Dromard (Wicked, Mary Poppins), Nadine Isenegger (42nd Street, Pal Joey), Gabrielle Ruiz (In the Heights, A Chorus Line), LaQuet Sharnell (Lysistrata Jones, Memphis) and Kristen J. Smith (South Pacific, An American in Paris) join previously announced performers Dennis O’Bannion (White Christmas), Greg Reuter (Spamalot, Shrek) and Bret Shuford (South Pacific, The Little Mermaid) with Christopher Lengerich and Fran Minarik at the pianos. (Jessica Lee Goldyn and Stacey Harris have withdrawn due to scheduling conflicts.)

The original 1940s revue Make Mine Manhattan is a loving send-up of New York City’s most infamous borough. Struggling actors, disgruntled theatre critics and hapless out-of-towners all bite the Big Apple in this sparkling entertainment!

Make Mine Manhattan will feature choreography by Rommy Sandhu (How Now, Dow Jones, Encores! Applause associate), musical direction and arrangements by Fran Minarik (Gatsby, Making the Boys), lighting design by Joe Hodge (Perfect Crime, Gatsby) and costume design by Martin T. Lopez (Penelope, Orpheus).

UMC is presenting Make Mine Manhattan as it was originally conceived by its authors under the title A Nice Place to Visit; the initial drafts describe the musical as “a pocket revue, designed for a cast of eight with two pianos”. This new one-act production of the hit revue will feature discarded dialogue and four musical numbers cut prior to the revue’s Broadway bow: “I Gotta Have You”, “New York Gal”, “Old Fashioned Girl”, “Please Take It Back”.

Tickets, priced at $18, are currently on sale via SmartTix.com or by calling 212-868-4444. For more information, visit www.UnsungMusicals.org.

The original Broadway production of Make Mine Manhattan opened January 15, 1948 at the Broadhurst Theatre. Staged by Hassard Short and starring Sid Caesar, Sheila Bond, David Burns and Danny Daniels, the hit revue played 429 performances and was followed by a national tour starring Bert Lahr.

UNSUNGMUSICALSCO. INC. (Ben West, Artistic Director) is a not-for-profit Production Company dedicated to the preservation of musical theatre through the restoration and presentation of obscure but artistically sound works. UMC projects include the upcoming world premiere concert of Caesar’s Wife, world premiere concerts of Gatsby and Nothing is Forever, developmental productions of How Now, Dow Jones (revised) and Platinum (revised) and exploratory readings of Barefoot Boy With Cheek, Arms and the Girl and The Fig Leaves Are Falling (revised). Focusing primarily on overlooked projects from the Golden Age, UMC treats each property as a new musical thereby providing a unique collaboration between the artists of today and those of the past. UMC has also created a new initiative aimed at researching, assembling and restoring the material from unpublished and out-of-print musical shows: The Archival Project. www.UnsungMusicals.org

Photo Credit: Monica Simoes