Photo Coverage: CHASING RAINBOWS: THE ROAD TO OZ Celebrates Opening Night at Paper Mill Playhouse
By: Genevieve Rafter Keddy Oct. 07, 2019
Paper Mill Playhouse's New Jersey premiere of Chasing Rainbows: The Road to Oz has officially opened! The new musical features a book by Marc Acito, musical adaptation & additional music by David Libby and conceived by and additional lyrics by Tina Marie Casamento. Check out photos from inside opening night below!
Directed and choreographed by Tony award nominee Denis Jones, Orchestrations by Larry Blank and David Libby with music direction by Lawrence Yurman, the principal cast features Ruby Rakos (Billy Elliot) as Judy Garland/Frances Gumm, Tony Award nominee Max von Essen (An American in Paris, Paper Mill's The Baker's Wife) as Frank Gumm, Olivier Award-winner Lesli Margherita (Matilda, Dames at Sea) as Ethel Gumm, Karen Mason(Mamma Mia!, And the World Goes 'Round) as Ma Lawlor/Kay Koverman, Stephen DeRosa (Into the Woods, HBO's Boardwalk Empire) as Louis B. Mayer, Michael Wartella (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Tuck Everlasting) as Mickey Rooney, and Colin Hanlon (ABC's Modern Family, Paper Mill'sBenny & Joon) as Roger Edens.
Rounding out the cast are Tia Altinay, Mackenzie Bell, Kristen Grace Brown, Lamont Brown, Joe Cassidy, Clara Cox, Tessa Grady, Sophie Knapp (Teaneck, NJ), Molly K. Lyons, Kimberly Immanuel, Christina Maxwell, Kevin B. McGlynn, Allsun O'Malley, Samantha Joy Pearlman, Drew Redington, Joshua J. Schwartz, Parker Slaybaugh, Sean Thompson, Violet Tinnirello and Kathy Voytko (Bloomfield, NJ).
Before she burst onto the big screen as Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, Judy Garland was a young vaudeville trouper named Frances Gumm. In this highly anticipated new musical chronicling Garland's early career from vaudeville baby to MGM teen star in the making, the road to Oz is paved with adversity. At its heart a story of love between a father and daughter, featuring such legendary songs as "Over the Rainbow," "You Made Me Love You," and "Everybody Sing," Chasing Rainbows is a poignant coming-of-age tale about "the little girl with the big voice," who went on to become one of the world's most beloved entertainment icons. The show has already earned praise from Liza Minnelli, who said, "My mother said that her biography is in her music, and now a talented creative team is using that music to tell the story of her early years and her extraordinary rise to fame."
Photo Credit: Genevieve Rafter Keddy
Larry Goren and Andrew Goren
David Topchik and Toby Bilanow
Michael Feinstein and Mark William
Max von Essen and Michael Feinstein
Lesli Margherita an Max von Essen
Lesli Margherita and Max von Essen
Stephen Hoebee-Elardo, Mark S. Hoebee and Ashley Hoebee-Elardo
Denis Jones and Mark S. Hoebee
Ruby Rakos and Lorna Luft
Ruby Rakos and Lorna Luft
Ruby Rakos, Lorna Luft and Mark S. Hoebee
Mark S. Hoebee, Ruby Rakos, Lorna Luft, Tina Marie Casamento and Michael Stotts
Ruby Rakos, Lorna Luft and Michael Wartella
Marc Acito, Ruby Rakos, Lorna Luft, Michael Wartella, Tina Marie Casamento, David Libby and Richard Winkler
Parker Slaybaugh, Michael Wartella and Sean Thompson
Blakely Slaybaugh, Parker Slaybaugh and Britney Coleman
Fern Kershon and Paul Karchawer
Michael Wartella and Max von Essen
Lesli Margherita, Lorna Luft and Max von Essen
Lesli Margherita, Ruby Rakos, Lorna Luft ad Max von Essen
Karen Mason, Ruby Rakos and Stephen DeRosa
Michael Wartella and Ruby Rakos
Violet Tinnirello, Molly K. Lyons and Sophie Knapp
Ruby Rakos, Violet Tinnirello, Molly K. Lyons and Sophie Knapp
Tessa Grady, Drew Redington and Clara Cox
Randi Levine-Miller and Ken Waissman
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