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Baayork Lee, Jon Rua, Josh Rhodes and More Join Pittsburgh CLO's Summer Musicals

The 2022 season will feature the Pittsburgh CLO premieres of The Drowsy Chaperone and Sister Act, in addition to Kinky Boots, Godspell, A Chorus Line, and Jersey Boys.

By: May. 20, 2022
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Baayork Lee, Jon Rua, Josh Rhodes and More Join Pittsburgh CLO's Summer Musicals  Image

Pittsburgh CLO has announced the creative teams for the 2022 Summer of Musicals at the Benedum Center. This talented and highly sought-after group of creative specialists will bring Broadway's best to life at the Benedum Center all summer long!

Pittsburgh CLO celebrates 76 years of producing shows locally in Pittsburgh and sharing musical theater with audiences of all ages. The 2022 Summer of Musicals will feature the Pittsburgh CLO premieres of The Drowsy Chaperone and Sister Act, in addition to Kinky Boots, Godspell, A Chorus Line, and the national tour of Jersey Boys.

CLO will welcome back its employees, staffing all positions from ushers to its scene and costume shops who are busy creating an unforgettable visual experience for each production. Audiences will enjoy a creative intersection of local and national talent both on stage and off.

"The collection of outstanding creative teams is going to make this a summer to remember," said Mark Fleischer, CLO Executive Producer.

The 2022 Creative Teams include:

THE DROWSY CHAPERONE | June 21-26

Josh Rhodes (Director/Choreographer) has had his choreography featured on Broadway, the West End in London, film, television, and in theaters all across the U.S. On Broadway, he choreographed Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella, First Date, It Shoulda Been You, and Bright Star. He was also the choreographer of Carousel on London's West End.

James Cunningham (Music Director - The Drowsy Chaperone, Kinky Boots & A Chorus Line) has music directed over 15 productions for the CLO Summer Season since 2017. New York credits include Avenue Q (conductor), music director for Bunnicula (TheaterworksUSA and original cast recording), Hot Mess In Manhattan (Araca Project), and Happy Birthday (TACT) for which he also provided original music. National Tours credits as pianist and/or conductor include: Irving Berlin's White Christmas, Spamalot, Evita and Cats.

Lee Wilkins (Associate Choreographer) has worked alongside Casey Nicholaw (Aladdin, Mean Girls, Book of Mormon), famed director Walter Bobbie, our own Summer season's Gabe Barre, and of course his husband and collaborator on The Drowsy Chaperone, Josh Rhodes. One may recognize his work from the national tours of Cinderella or Steel Pier, or any of his many choreographic contributions to Broadway Bares.

KINKY BOOTS | July 5-10

Gerry McIntyre (Director/Choreographer) has widespread acclaim for his most recent choreographic credit: the Berkshire Theatre Group's production of Godspell. Credits include: Kinky Boots at The Hangar Theatre, La Mirada Theatre (Robby Award for Best Director, Ovation nomination for Best Choreography and Best Musical); Joseph....Dreamcoat starring Diana DeGarmo and Anthony Federov at Lyric Theatre, and the national tour of Dreamgirls. Gerry is the choreographer of the hit off-Broadway show Spamilton: An American Parody, and has performed in the original company of Once On this Island, Anything Goes with Patti LuPone, and was one of the three Americans cast in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat with Donny Osmond.

Sara Andreas (Associate Choreographer) choreography/assistant choreography credits include Legally Blonde (2nd National Tour), Catch Me If You Can (National Tour), Kinky Boots (Hangar Theatre), The 25th...Spelling Bee, Spring Awakening (Connecticut Repertory Theatre), Triple Threat (Indie Film).

GODSPELL | July 12-17

Gabriel Barre (Director) is an internationally acclaimed director who directed Amazing Grace on Broadway. Off-Broadway credits include the original productions of The Wild Party (by Andrew Lippa), Summer of '42, john & jen and Almost, Maine. National Tours include Amazing Grace, Pippin, and Cinderella.

JON RUA (Choreographer) has four Tony-nominated Broadway shows under his belt, originating roles such as Patchy the Pirate in Spongebob Squarepants: The Broadway Musical, Charles Lee in the Tony & Grammy Award Winning hit musical Hamilton, and Jesus Pena in the docu-based musical Hands on a Hardbody.

Emily Marshall (Music Director) is a NYC based music director who most recently was the Music Director/Conductor/Vocal Arranger on Be More Chill on Broadway. Credits include - Broadway: Head Over Heels, Elf, Beautiful, School of Rock, Mean Girls, Charlie & The Chocolate Factory; Waitress, Annie. National Tours: 1st National Tour of We Will Rock You, A Chorus Line, and Disney's Beauty and the Beast.

Brianna Mercado (Associate Choreographer) credits include West Side Story at Milwaukee Rep, The Muny, Phish NYE at MSG, and her own TEDx talk. She is a dance artist, choreographer, educator, speaker, and proud graduate of UC Berkeley, currently working on her Masters in Mind-Body Medicine.

A CHORUS LINE | July 26-31

Baayork Lee (Director/Choreographer) has performed in a dozen original Broadway shows. She created the role of Connie in A Chorus Line while continuing the legacy of Michael Bennett directing companies around the world, most recently the Antonio Banderas company in Spain. She has directed The King and I, South Pacific, Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella, Porgy and Bess, Carmen Jones, Jesus Christ Superstar, Barnum, Gypsy, and others.

Matthew Couvillon (Associate Choreographer) was the Associate Choreographer to Baayork Lee on Pittsburgh CLO's A Broadway Musical Celebration, A Chorus Line (Malaga, Spain with Antonio Banderas, New York City Center, Hollywood Bowl, Austria, City Springs Theatre Company, U.S. National Tour, Tokyo), ShowStoppers (Wynn Las Vegas), One Singular Sensation (The Public Theatre).

SISTER ACT | August 9-14


Ameenah Kaplan (Director) attended AAU Film School for Directing and NYU's Tisch School of the Arts for acting. She is the Resident Director for the Disney's The Lion King North American Tour. Other: ABC's Encore!, The Wiz at First Stage, Our Country's Good at American Players, Meet Vera Stark at Purdue U., How to Break at Village Theatre, The Royale at ACT, Bash'd at Celebration Theatre.

Robert Roby (Choreographer) returns to PCLO having previously choreographed Disney's Beauty and Beast in 2018. Select credits include: Broadway Backwards (New Amsterdam Theatre; NYC), Shrek (Walnut Street Theatre, Sacramento Music Circus), Joseph...Dreamcoat (Tuacahn Center for the Arts), and Disney's The Little Mermaid (The 5th Avenue Theatre).

Arri Lawton Simon (Music Director) is an award-winning writer, performer, and educator based out of NYC. Arri is faculty at Professional Performing Arts/Rosie's Theater Kids and maintains a successful private voice studio, ranging from beginners to Broadway veterans.

Read full bios and more at PittsburghCLO.org.

Individual tickets start at $29. Flexible season ticket packages are available online or by calling our Season Ticket Hotline at 412-281-2822. Season ticket holders can take advantage of great benefits including exchange privileges, reserved parking, behind-the-scenes email updates, and much more. Groups of 10 or more enjoy exclusive discounts and specialty packages. Contact groups@pittsburghclo.org for more information.





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