Weston Playhouse Announces Cast For ALICE BLISS

Weston Playhouse Theatre Company Executive Artistic Director Susanna Gellert announced casting for the 13th Annual Weston-Ghostlight New Musical Award Winner, ALICE BLISS, a musical based on Laura Harrington's acclaimed novel. It follows Alice, a young teenager whose father is deployed to Iraq, as she navigates the challenges of growing up in a family touched by the effects of war.

ALICE BLISS features five New York City-based actors, all members of Actors' Equity Association. They are: Allison Strong (Alice Bliss), Garret Long (Angie Bliss), Georga Osborne (Gram), Sara Aili (Chorus), and Trevor James Berger (Henry). The creative team features music direction by Deborah Abramson and concert direction by Gellert.

Says Gellert, Weston is thrilled to welcome this incredible team of artists to join us as we bring ALICE BLISS to Weston Playhouse at Walker Farm. This is what Weston is all about: powerful talent in many forms coming to our beautiful rural campus to bring new work to life.

Allison Strong (Alice Bliss) can be seen starring alongside Adam Sandler and Chris Rock in the Netflix original feature The Week Of. She currently recurs as Talia Goldstein in Season Two of the Emmy-winning The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. TV: The Blacklist, Dora and Friends. Broadway: Bye Bye Birdie, Mamma Mia! Off-Broadway/Regional: Oklahoma! (Bard Summerscape), Under My Skin (Little Shubert), Volleygirls (NYMF). Recipient of the 2019 Garden State Film Festival Rising Star Award.

Garrett Long (Angie Bliss) Broadway: Dear Evan Hansen, Fun Home, Bonnie and Clyde, South Pacific. Tour: Seussical starring Cathy Rigby. Off Broadway: The Spitfire Grill - Drama Desk/Drama League nominations. TV: Chicago Med. Good times at Pittsburgh Public, The Guthrie, McCarter, Signature, Fords, Goodspeed, Papermill, George St. MT of Wichita and Cape Playhouse. Twitter: @GarrettLongnyc Instagram: @liselong

Georga Osborne (Gram) Broadway: Meet Me in St. Louis (OBC); Lincoln Center: Sweeney Todd (Lupone/Hearn); Carnegie Hall: Streetcar Named Desire (w/Ren e Fleming). National Tours: My Fair Lady; 2x The Sound of Music. Regional: Weston Playhouse: Souvenir, Gypsy, Fiddler on the Roof, Pirates of Penzance, Hollywood/Ukraine, Carousel, Cabaret; Captial Repertory (Albany), Souvenir, My Fair Lady. Chautauqua, Augusta Opera, Syracuse Stage. Recordings: Allegro (Mrs. Lansdale), Meet Me in St Louis, The Last Starfighter. www.georgaosborne.nyc @GloSong2u

Sarah Aili (Chorus) With a mutual love for storytelling and songwriting, Sarah bridges the gap between live music and live theater. You'll find her on the road, in the studio, in the writing room or on stage. She recently performed in Nashville Rep's Avenue Q, is currently wrapping up her new album and one-woman show co-written & co-produced with Radney Foster and is thrilled to be working with The Weston Playhouse! www.California-NYC-Nashville.sarahaili.com

Trevor James Berger (Henry) Newsies at RMTC (Jack Kelly), Mamma Mia! At MRT (Sky), and Merrily We Roll Along at 4Leaf Music Productions (Frank/co-producer). Trevor is a recent graduate of Texas State University with a BFA in Musical Theatre. Special thanks to this incredible creative team and to HCKR Agency. www.trevorjamesberger.com

Deborah Abramson (Music Director) has served as Music Director or Associate MD for many Broadway and Off-Broadway productions, including Matilda the Musical, Spring Awakening, James Joyce's The Dead, Bernarda Alba, Dessa Rose, My Life With Albertine, and The Glorious Onews. As composer, she has written many songs and a couple of shows with lyricists William Finn, Peter Mills, Amanda Yesnowitz, and herself.

Susanna Gellert (Director) joined Weston Playhouse Theatre as Executive Artistic Director in July 2018. Previously, she was Associate Producer and Director of the Studio at New York's acclaimed Theatre for a New Audience. At TFANA, she produced shows including Shakespeare's Pericles, directed by Sir Trevor Nunn, the world premiere of Adrienne Kennedy's He Brought her Heart Back In A Box, and award winning productions of Thornton Wilder's The Skin of Our Teeth and An Octoroon by Branden Jacobs Jenkins. Prior to joining TFANA, Susanna was Artistic Producer and Resident Director at Center Stage in Baltimore where she developed the theater's ground breaking Third Space Initiative and produced My America, which commissioned monologues by Christopher Durang, Polly Penn, Lynn Nottage, and others. Recent directing credits in New York and Baltimore include the world premiere of Mud Blue Sky by Marisa Wegrzyn, Crimes of the Heart by Beth Henley, Open the Dark Door by David Nugent, and Visiting Day by Andy Bragen. Susanna currently teaches in the MFA Directing program at the New School and has taught at University of Chicago, the University of Rochester, Bard College, Columbia University, and NYU. She holds degrees from Yale University, Columbia University, and the University of Chicago.

Two free public concerts of ALICE BLISS will be held at the Walker Farm at Weston Playhouse on Saturday, March 2 at 4pm and 7pm. Kurt Deutsch of Ghostlight Records will produce the free demo recording.

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