The quintessential backstage musical comedy, "42nd Street" brings Broadway golden-age glamour, a large tap-happy cast and a score chock-filled with American songbook classics to Bucks County Playhouse (BCP) in an all-new production. Directed by Bucks County Playhouse Artistic Associate Hunter Foster and choreographed by Jeremy Dumont, the musical previews June 29 with an official opening night performance on Saturday, June 30 at 7:30 pm and performs through August 4. The 2018 Bucks County Playhouse Season is sponsored by Bank of America.
Executive Producer Robyn Goodman, Producing Director Alexander Fraser and Producers Stephen Kocis and Josh Fiedler recently announced details on the casting and creative team of "42nd Street," which will be the largest musical produced at the venue since the Playhouse reopened in 2012.
"Classic musicals have long been an important tradition of the Playhouse. The record-breaking success of Hunter Foster's and Jeremy Dumont's production of "Guys and Dolls" last season paved the way for this exciting new production of "42nd Street. Audiences embraced and loved that show as much as we did," says Producer Stephen Kocis.
Celebrate the magic of Broadway with one of show business's most beloved fables. Peggy Sawyer, a talented young performer straight off the bus from Allentown, PA, arrives in New York armed with her tap shoes and big dreams. Can she dance her way from chorus girl to star?
Tessa Grady ("Rodgers + Hammerstein's Cinderella") is Peggy Sawyer. Also starring is Linda Balgord (Broadway's "Phantom of the Opera," Drama Desk nominee for "The Pirate Queen") as Dorothy Brock, Ruth Gottschall (BCP's "Guys and Dolls," Broadway's "Mary Poppins") as Maggie Jones, Matt Walton (ABC's "One Life to Live," Paper Mill Playhouse's "Boeing-Boeing") as Julian Marsh, Blakely Slaybaugh (Broadway's "Paramour," BCP's "Guys and Dolls") as Billy Lawlor.
The cast also features Kilty Reidy, Cliff Bemis, Patrick Oliver Jones, Monette McKay, Matt Bauman, Andrew Hodge and Brianna Marie Latrash. Alyssa Gardner, Daisy Wright, Sean Bell, Darrell T. Joe, Kurtis Bradley Brown, Jonathan Bryant, Erica Ito, Joshua Keen, Nevada Koenig, Allison Wiatrowski round out the ensemble. Michael O'Hara and Kathryn Priest will serve as Swings.
Anna Louizos is Scenic Designer. Lighting Designer is Kirk Baran-Bookman. Costume designer is Nicole Moody. Hair and Wig Designer is Jared Janas. Bart Fasbender is Sound Designer. Casting is by Geoff Josselson, CSA. Will Shuler is Music Director. T. J. Kearney is Production Stage Manager. Ben Freedman and Jennifer Barretto are Assistant Stage Managers.
The production will play the following schedule: Tuesdays at 7:30 p.m., Wednesdays at 2:00 pm (plus an additional evening performance August 1 at 7:30 pm), Thursdays at 2:00 pm and 7:30 pm, Fridays at 8:00 pm (except Friday, July 6 at 7:00 pm - New Hope Fireworks following the show), Saturdays at 2:00 pm and 8:00 pm, and Sundays at 2:00 pm. There is an additional matinee on Friday, August 3 at 1:00 p.m. The opening night performance on Saturday, June 30 will be at 7:30 p.m.
Single tickets to "42nd Street" are on sale now. Tickets range from $40 - $80. Special rates for groups of 10 or more. Season ticket packages are still available. For complete details, and to purchase tickets, please visit buckscountyplayhouse.org, call 215-862-2121, or visit the box office at 70 South Main Street, New Hope, PA.
Bucks County Playhouse is a year-round, nonprofit theatre that has grown to a $6 million producing organization with an annual audience of over 73,000. Founded in 1939 in a converted 1790 gristmill, Bucks County Playhouse quickly became "the most famous summer theatre in America," featuring a roster of American theatrical royalty including Helen Hayes, George S. Kaufman, Moss Hart, Kitty Carlisle, Angela Lansbury, Alan Alda, Tyne Daly, Bernadette Peters, and Liza Minnelli and remained in continuous operation until 2010. In 2012, the Playhouse re-opened after a multi-million-dollar restoration thanks to the efforts of the Bridge Street Foundation, the nonprofit family foundation of Kevin and Sherri Daugherty, and Broadway producer Jed Bernstein. This fall, the Playhouse will unveil a 4,000 square foot Delaware-river facing restaurant and bar expansion.
In 2014, Tony Award-winning producers Alexander Fraser and Robyn Goodman took helm of the Playhouse, and today the Playhouse has reclaimed its reputation of attracting Broadway and Hollywood artists. Its productions of Company starring Justin Guarini, and William Finn's The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee were named by Wall Street Journal to its "Best of Theatre" list for 2015. The 2017 season included four world premieres and audiences grew by over 34%. Box office record has been repeatedly broken by Signature Productions of Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story, Steel Magnolias directed by Marsha Mason, and Guys & Dolls directed by Hunter Foster. The creative teams who come to create new productions at the Playhouse are among the most talented artists working in the professional theatre today and relish the opportunity to work on the historic stage where Grace Kelly, Robert Redford and Jessica Walter began their careers.
Videos