Photo Flash: First Look at Emily Skinner and More in 42nd Street Moon's DO I HEAR A WALTZ?

42nd Street Moon kicks off its 22nd season with the rarely seen Richard Rodgers-Stephen Sondheim-Arthur Laurents collaboration DO I HEAR A WALTZ?, starring Broadway's Tony nominee Emily Skinner (Side Show, The Full Monty, Billy Elliot). Based on Arthur Laurents' 1952 play The Time of the Cuckoo, which inspired the Katharine Hepburn movie Summertime, the wistful story follows a lonely American tourist as she finds romance under the enchantment of mid-1960s Venice. DO I HEAR A WALTZ? plays now through October 19 at The Eureka Theatre, 215 Jackson St., San Francisco. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!

DO I HEAR A WALTZ? opened on Broadway on March 18, 1965 at the 46th Street Theatre with a cast featuring Sergio Franchi and Elizabeth Allen in the lead roles, and received three Tony Award nominations including Best Original Score. The luminous Rodgers-Sondheim score includes Do I Hear a Waltz?, Someone Like You, Take the Moment, Moon in My Window and What Do We Do? We Fly! It has never received a major Broadway revival.

Emily Skinner, who will star as the lonely American tourist "Leona," last appeared on Broadway starring in the acclaimed musical Billy Elliot. Handpicked by Oscar-winning director Stephen Daldry, she had the honor of being the very first American selected to play the role of Billy's dance teacher, Mrs. Wilkinson. Ms. Skinner was nominated for a Tony Award (with Alice Ripley) and received a Drama League Award for her performance as Daisy Hilton in the brilliant but short-lived Side Show. Her other original Broadway cast credits include Jekyll & Hyde, James Joyce's The Dead, The Full Monty, Dinner at Eight, as well as The Actors Fund productions of The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas andDreamgirls. Off-Broadway, Ms. Skinner performed in the acclaimed City Center Encores revivals of No Strings, Pardon My English, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, and Fiorello! She has also performed in various productions and workshops at Manhattan Theatre Club, WPA Theatre, Paramount Theater at Madison Square Gardens, York Theatre, Playwrights Horizons, and the Roundabout Theatre.

Co-starring as the Italian who sweeps Leona off her feet is Tyler McKenna, who returns to 42nd Street Moon where he was seen in The Best of Times: The Jerry Herman Salon, and Oh, Kay! He will be back later this fall as Rocky Fulton in Moon's upcoming production of Something for the Boys. Recent credits include Annie Get Your Gun with Napa Valley Conservatory Theater and A Little Princess at Berkeley Playhouse. Other work includes productions with Symmetry Theatre Company, The Mountain Play, Marin Shakespeare Company, and American Conservatory Theater. Mr. McKenna is a graduate of the American Conservatory Theater's MFA program.

The cast of DO I HEAR A WALTZ? will also feature Taylor Bartolucci, Jonah Broscow, Nikita Burshteyn, Lucinda Hitchcock Cone, David Naughton, Stephanie Rhoads, Michael Rhone, and Abby Sammons. Musical direction is by Dave Dobrusky, set design by Hector Zavala, costume design by Felicia Lilienthal, and lighting design by Danny Maher.

This production of DO I HEAR A WALTZ? is helmed by 42nd Street Moon Artistic Director Greg MacKellan. Mr. MacKellan's career in musical theatre extends back more than 30 years. His producing cre­dits in New York and Los Angeles include The Baker's Wife, a musical on which he worked ex­tensively with Stephen Schwartz and Joseph Stein. In addition to his work on dozens of 42nd Street Moon productions, Mr. MacKellan has served as director and writer in more than 15 revues for various Bay Area groups.

Photo Credit: pwophoto.com

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