Todd Alan Johnson Joins Cast of Prospect Theatre Company's IRON CURTAIN
By: Nicole Rosky Oct. 27, 2011
Todd Alan Johnson, whose credits include Broadway's Aida, Off Broadway's NEWSical and the national tour of Les Miserables, will join the cast of Prospect Theater Company's upcoming Off Broadway production of Iron Curtain. He replaces Marcus Neville, who has withdrawn from the production due to a scheduling conflict.
The announcement was made today by Prospect Theater Company Producing Artistic Director Cara Reichel and Managing Director Melissa Huber, who present by special arrangement with Fireboat Productions the new Off Broadway production of Iron Curtain, winner of the 2006 Innovative Theatre Award for Outstanding Production of a Musical.
Johnson's Broadway credits include Aida and the Actors Fund performance of A Wonderful Life. Off Broadway, he was seen in the original cast of NEWSical. His extensive touring and regional credits include leading roles in Les Miserables, The Drowsy Chaperone, Camelot, A Streetcar Named Desire and True West as well as the title roles in Sweeney Todd and Jekyll & Hyde.
From the award-winning team of Susan DiLallo (Jonathan Larson Award, Kleban Award), Stephen Weiner (Richard Rodgers Award) and Peter Mills (Kleban Award, Fred Ebb Award, Larson Award), Iron Curtain begins performances November 5 at the Baruch Performing Arts Center at Baruch College.
An uproarious original comedy set during Broadway's Golden Age of the 1950s, Iron Curtain follows the misadventures of Howard Katz and Murray Finkel, hapless songwriters who finally get their big break when they are kidnapped by the KGB, taken to Russia and forced to fix the world's worst communist propaganda musical. With the help of their madcap Soviet collaborators, the team gets a taste of the fame they never had in America. Will they choose celebrity or freedom? Iron Curtain was inspired by the historic communist propaganda musicals created in the Soviet Union under the regime of Joseph Stalin, a purported fan of the musical theater genre.
The cast of Iron Curtain also includes Maria Couch (Lincoln Center's On The Levee), Jenn Gambatese (Broadway's Is He Dead, Tarzan, All Shook Up, Hairspray, A Year With Frog & Toad, Footloose), Bobbi Kotula (Village Theatre's critically-acclaimed 2011 regional premiere production of Iron Curtain), David Perlman (Broadway's Baby It's You, Prospect's Once Upon a Time in New Jersey), Aaron Ramey (Broadway's Thoroughly Modern Millie, Young Frankenstein, Curtains; Judd in Oklahoma at Arena Stage) and Gordon Stanley (Broadway's Cabaret, Ragtime, Beauty and the Beast, Meet Me in St. Louis, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat). The ensemble includes Sara Brophy, Ronn Burton, Clint Carter, John Fico, Andrea McCullough, James Patterson, Robby Sharpe and Aubrey Sinn.
Iron Curtain features a book by book by Susan DiLallo, music by Stephen Weiner and lyrics by Peter Mills. The production is directed by Cara Reichel and choreographed by Christine O'Grady. Musical supervision and orchestrations are by Remy Kurs. Brandon Sturiale is the musical director. Scenic design is by Brian Prather. Costume design is by Sidney Shannon. Doug Harry designs the lights and Andy Leviss designs the sound. Kat West is the production stage manager.
The initial concept reading of Iron Curtain was held by Prospect Theater Company in November 2005. In April 2006 Prospect presented a developmental showcase production at New York's West End Theatre. In August 2007 a reduced version of the script was presented at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival by the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama. That year, a reading was also held as part of the "Village Originals" Festival at the Village Theatre in Issaquah, WA. Prospect presented a concert reading at The Baruch Performing Arts Center in 2008, and a further workshop was held at the Village Theatre. Subsequent development of Iron Curtain was supported by the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center during a residency at the National Music Theater Conference of 2008. In October 2009 excerpts of Iron Curtain were presented at the National Alliance for Musical Theatre's Festival of New Musicals and in March 2011 Iron Curtain made its regional premiere at the Village Theatre in Issaquah and Everett, Washington.
The performance schedule is as follows: Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 7:30pm; Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm; Sundays at 3pm. There are added performances on November 6 at 7:30pm, November 19 at 3pm, November 21 at 7:30pm and November 26 at 3pm. There is no 3pm performance on November 6 and no performances on November 23 and November 24. This limited run of Iron Curtain is scheduled to end on November 27.
The Baruch Performing Arts Center, Baruch College is located at East 25th Street between Lexington and Third Avenue. Tickets are $50, with premium seating available for $65.
To purchase tickets visit www.ProspectTheater.org or call (212) 352-3101.
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