Thursday, December 16, 2010
Rex Smith Heads Cast of THE CRADLE WILL ROCK for The Blank
Casting is complete for The Blank Theatre Company's production of Marc Blitzstein's The Cradle Will Rock. Directed by The Blank's founding artistic director Daniel Henning, and featuring musical direction by David O, the show will begin previews on Saturday, February 5, 2011 and is set to open one week later on Saturday, February 12 at 8pm. The engagement will run through Sunday, March 20.
Along with stage, television, and recording star Rex Smith (playing the role of Larry Foreman), the cast, in alphabetical order, is Tiffany Adams, Will Barker, Gigi Bermingham, Christopher Carroll, Rob Roy Cesar, Matthew Patrick Davis, Mikey Hawley, Jim Holdridge, Jack Laufer, Roland Rusinek, Meagan Smith, Lowe Taylor, David Trice, Peter Van Norden, Matt Wolpe, Adam Wylie, and Penelope Yates.
In The Cradle Will Rock, corporations and churches use their influence to shape laws to their favor, unemployment hits new heights, and millions of Americans are losing their homes. Sound like the new millenium? In 1937, Marc Blitzstein's musical called these issue into question with his scathing satire of greed, corruption and politics in the U.S.A.
So scandalous, in fact, was The Cradle Will Rock that the U.S. government tried to shut it down. But Blitzstein's humor, music and agitprop parody ruled the day and the public got to hear this terrific, fun, jazzy score. Snappy tunes, wonderful characters and deep questions about our nation will take you on a roller-coaster ride through the American patriotic psyche.
The Blank Theatre Company first presented The Cradle Will Rock in 1994, directed by Henning, and the production received two Ovation Award nominations (Musical in an Intimate Theatre, Director of a Musical), three Drama-Logue Awards (including Production and Direcotr), and the L.A. Weekly Award for Musical of the Year.
A complete recording of the score was released by The Blank in 1995; that recording will be re-released in celebration of this new production and The Blank's 20th Anniversary.
Tickets are available at www.theblank.com or by calling 323-661-9827.
The Stella Adler Theatre is located at 6773 Hollywood Blvd. in Hollywood.
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Labels: daniel henning, david o, the blank
