Austin Miller Leads TUTS' Urban Cowboy: The Musical 7/14-19

Theatre Under The Stars (TUTS) is excited to announce the cast selected to lead the TUTS and Houston debut of the Houston-inspired Urban Cowboy: The Musical, scheduled to play July 14 - 19 at Miller Outdoor Theatre (6000 Hermann Park Drive).

Based on the hit Paramount film starring John Travolta and Debra Winger, Urban Cowboy: The Musical tells the story of Bud, a new breed of cowboy who's looking for love in the biggest honky-tonk in the world, and his roller coaster romance with local cowgirl Sissy. Their courtship plays out among a Texas-sized setting including oil fields, trailer parks and the infamous Pasadena bar and dance hall, Gilley's.

Playing the role of Bud is TUTS' own Austin Miller, whom audiences will remember as a finalist on the televised competition Grease: You're The One That I Want!. A graduate of the Humphreys School of Musical Theatre (HSMT), Miller went on to national tours of Grease, Smokey Joe's Café and Victor/Victoria. Audiences will also remember Miller as dreamboat Link Larkin in TUTS' 2010 production of Hairspray as well as from his involvement in 42nd Street and Cats. Opposite Miller will be Friendswood, TX native Brooke Wilson as Sissy. Wilson has appeared in several previous TUTS productions including Singin' in the Rain, Cats and Disney's Beauty and the Beast and When You Wish.

Michelle DeJean, another graduate of HSMT, returns to the TUTS stage as Pam, the woman who attracts Bud's wandering eye. Her last appearance at TUTS was in 2005's Chicago as Roxie Hart. DeJean's theatre highlights include Broadway's Chicago and national tours of Jesus Christ Superstar, West Side Story and Chicago.

Starring as Sherwood, Gilley's audacious and outspoken bar manager, is veteran Houston actress Luisa Amaral-Smith. After performing with several of Houston's notable theatres and performance groups, Urban Cowboy: The Musical marks Amaral-Smith's TUTS debut.

Former Houstonian Ceasar F. Barajas portrays Wes, an ex-convict who's got his sights set on Sissy. Aside from a host of film, television and regional theatre appearances, Barajas also has graced the TUTS stage in 2010's Miss Saigon.

Playing Bud's Aunt Corene and Uncle Bob are Susan Shofner and David Atkinson. Seen in more than 30 TUTS shows, most recently as Mother Abbess in The Sound Of Music, Shofner boasts credits in the national tours of The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas and On the Twentieth Century as well as several off-Broadway shows. Making his TUTS debut, Atkinson is a film and television veteran with several regional theatre credits in Los Angeles, Chicago and Atlanta.

Rounding out the ensemble are Xavier Alcala-Herrera, Patrick Amos, John Berno, Caitlin Cannon, Rebecca Eckert, Lindsey Edwards, Laura Finger Duggan, Tony Guerrero, Brittany Halen, Wes Hart, Brooke Humphrey, Courtney D. Jones, Logan Keslar, Larry A. Lozier, Jr., Eric S. Robertson, Melissa Steadman, Paige Wheat and Cameron Worthen.

Urban Cowboy: The Musical is based on the 1980 screenplay, which originated from Aaron Latham's Esquire article about Western nightlife. The musical features a book by Latham and Phillip Oesterman, and the score features a variety of country music tunesmiths including Clint Black and Charlie Daniels.

Urban Cowboy: The Musical will be directed by TUTS Associate Artistic Director Roy Hamlin. Hamlin's most recent directing credits include Hairspray, Little Shop of Horrors and The Sound of Music. He regularly serves as an out-of-state adjudicator for the Louisiana Division of the Arts granting panel on theatre and dance and provides a similar service for the Houston Arts Alliance and the Texas Commission on the Arts. Also, Hamlin served from 2005 to 2008 on the New Musicals Selection Committee for the National Alliance for Musical Theatre.

Urban Cowboy: The Musical also features the work of choreographer Paula Sloan, whose previous TUTS productions include 42nd Street and 110 In The Shade. Joining Stone on the creative team are Sound Designer Dennis Craig, who last worked with TUTS on Little Shop of Horrors, and Music Director Andrew Austin. Other members of the creative team include longtime TUTS colleagues Lighting Designer Richard Winkler and Costume Designer Raydelle Robbins.

For more information on Urban Cowboy: The Musical, visit Theatre Under The Stars on the web at www.TUTS.com or Miller Outdoor Theatre at www.milleroutdoortheatre.com. To contact TUTS by phone, call (713) 558-TUTS (8887). Free tickets for the covered seats are available on the day of performance between 10:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. at the Miller Theatre Box Office. Free tickets are limited to four per person. Any tickets remaining will be given out one hour before curtain. Don't want to wait in line? For each $50 tax-deductable donation to TUTS, the organization will set aside two tickets under the covered pavilion so you may enjoy the show and experience firsthand how your generosity makes the music happen. Contact Seth Malin at 713-558-2656 or Seth@TUTS.com to take advantage of this deal. No tickets? Bring a cozy blanket or lawn chair and enjoy the show from the Miller Theatre lawn, the perfect place for a picnic and a show!

TUTS' presentation of Urban Cowboy: The Musical is made possible by the generosity of the Miller Theatre Advisory Board, Inc., The Brown Foundation, Inc., The Wortham Foundation, Inc., Wells Fargo, the Texas Commission on the Arts and the George and Mary Josephine Hamman Foundation.

Theatre Under The Stars 2010-11 Sensational Season is generously sponsored by St. Luke's Episcopal Health System. For all of Theatre Under The Stars' 2010-2011 shows, air transportation is provided by United Airlines, the official airline of Theatre Under The Stars. Media sponsors include ABC-13 and Houston Chronicle. Season support is funded in part by grants from the City of Houston through the Theater District Association and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Founded in 1968, Theatre Under The Stars is Houston's acclaimed non-profit musical theatre company under the direction of President and CEO John C. Breckenridge. TUTS was the first theatrical organization in Houston to perform free to the public in 1968 at Miller Outdoor Theatre in Hermann Park, and is the only Houston arts organization that has performed there free to the public every year since the building opened. Since its founding by Frank M. Young, TUTS has produced more than 300 musicals including many local, national and world premieres such as Kopit and Yeston's Phantom, Disney's Beauty and the Beast, Jekyll & Hyde, and Irving Berlin's White Christmas as well as critically acclaimed re-inventions of classics Cabaret and Les Miserables. Through its membership in the Independent Presenters Network, TUTS has helped bring Bombay Dreams, 9 to 5, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Spamalot, Legally Blonde, Ragtime, Curtains and The Color Purple to Broadway.

As a way to continue the tradition of musical theatre, TUTS Education provides instruction and stage experience for more than 21,000 students annually, allowing students to flourish in a year-round schedule of classes. With a common goal - to expand arts access to children of all abilities - The River Performing and Visual Arts Center (The River) merged with Theatre Under The Stars in 2010, creating a unique, barrier free, arts education model for non-profit musical theatre performing arts organizations. With the merger, TUTS Education now provides extended on-site programming as well as off-site programming for children in schools, hospitals and other community-based sites. Housed in the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts, TUTS also annually presents the Tommy Tune Awards, honoring the best and brightest in Houston's high school musical theatre programs.