Kudisch, Davie, Belcon, Etc. Set for 'The Glorious Ones'

Lincoln Center Theater will present the New York premiere of The Glorious Ones, a new musical with book and lyrics by Lynn Ahrens, music by Stephen Flaherty and choreography and direction by Graciela Daniele.  The Glorious Ones will begin performances Thursday, October 11 and open on Monday, November 5 at the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater. 

The cast of seven will feature Natalie Venetia Belcon (Avenue Q, Rent), Erin Davie (Grey Gardens), John Kassir (Reefer Madness), David PatRick Kelly (Twelfth Night, Orphan of Zhao), Marc Kudisch (See What I Wanna See, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Assassins), Julyana Soelistyo (Tony nominee for Golden Child), and Jeremy Webb (Drama Desk Award for Tabletop). 

"The Glorious Ones is a backstage musical about the lives, loves, ambitions, and art of the performers in a 16th-century commedia dell'arte troupe in Italy of the late Renaissance.   Based on the novel by Francine Prose, the musical tells how the troupe came to be and how it captured the public's adoration with its bawdy comedy and raunchiness, before changing artistic fashion altered its way of life.  Its seven archetypal characters are – the charismatic leading man (Marc Kudisch), the sly harlequin (Jeremy Webb), the quack "dottore" (John Kassir), the old miser (David PatRick Kelly), the earthy maidservant (Natalie Venetia Belcon), the devoted dwarf (Julyana Soelistyo), and the beautiful maiden (Erin Davie)," state press notes.

The Glorious Ones reunites the team of Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty with director/choreographer Graciela Daniele who collaborated on the musicals Once On This Island, Ragtime and Dessa Rose.  Lincoln Center Theater has previously produced three Ahrens and Flaherty musicals (My Favorite Year, A Man of No Importance, and Dessa Rose).  An Associate Director of Lincoln Center Theater, Graciela Daniele has directed and choreographed the LCT productions of Dessa Rose, Hello Again, Chronicle of A Death Foretold, A New Brain, Marie Christine, and Elegies: A Song Cycle by William Finn.

The Glorious Ones will have sets by Dan Ostling, costumes by Mara Blumenfeld, lighting by Stephen Strawbridge, sound by Scott Lehrer, orchestrations by Michael Starobin and musical direction by David Holcenberg.

In addition to The Glorious Ones, which is Lincoln Center Theater's 118th production, LCT's 2007- 2008 season will include a production of Shakespeare's Cymbeline directed by Mark Lamos starting performances November 1st in the Vivian Beaumont Theater.  Cymbeline will be followed in the Beaumont by a new production of Rodgers & Hammerstein's South Pacific, directed by Bartlett Sher, which begins performances on February 28, 2008.  This will mark the first Broadway production of the musical since its 1949 Broadway.  LCT will also be a co-producer of Tom Stoppard's Rock 'N' Roll which begins previews on Broadway at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre on October 19.

The musical will be performed Tuesday through Saturday evenings at 8pm with matinees Wednesday and Saturday at 2pm and Sunday at 3 pm. (There is no Saturday matinee on Saturday, October 13.)   Tickets priced at $70 to $75 will be available beginning Sunday, September 23, at the Lincoln Center Theater box office (150 West 65 Street), by calling Tele-Charge at (212) 239-6200 or on-line by visiting www.lct.org.

Photo of Marc Kudisch by Walter McBride/Retna Ltd.