Stephanie J. Block Officially Takes Over for Sutton Foster in ANYTHING GOES Nov. 4 - Nov. 22
By: Jessica Lewis Oct. 31, 2011
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As previously reported, Roundabout Theatre Company has announced that Stephanie J. Block will join the Tony® Award winning company of Anything Goes performing the role of "Reno Sweeney" while Sutton Foster is filming the television pilot, Bunheads, for 3 weeks in November. Specific dates have been announced today and Block will officially be stepping into the role November 4 through November 22.
Directed and choreographed by 2011 Tony Award winner Kathleen Marshall, Stephanie J. Block will step into the role opposite Joel Grey as "Moonface Martin."
Stephanie J. Block was most recently seen on Broadway in 9 To 5: The Musical. Her portrayal of "Judy Bernly" earned her a Drama Desk nomination for Best Actress in a Musical. She is best known for her portrayal as "Elphaba" in the Broadway company of Wicked and for creating the roles of "Grace O'Malley" in The Pirate Queen and Liza Minnelli in The Boy From Oz (opposite Hugh Jackman).
Anything Goes is currently playing on Broadway at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre (124 West 43rd Street). A new block of tickets recently went on-sale through April 29th, 2012.
Music & lyrics by Cole Porter; original book by P.G. Wodehouse & Guy Bolton and Howard Lindsay & Russel Crouse; New book by Timothy Crouse and John Weidman.
The creative team includes Bill Elliott (Additional Orchestrations), Rob Fisher (Musical Director) and David Chase (Dance Arranger). The design team includes Derek McLane (Sets), Martin Pakledinaz (Costumes), Peter Kaczorowski (Lights) and Brian Ronan (Sound).
The cast currently features John McMartin as "Elisha Whitney," Kelly Bishop as "Evangeline Harcourt," Colin Donnell as "Billy Crocker", Adam Godley as "Lord Evelyn Oakleigh," Erin Mackey as "Hope Harcourt," Jessica Stone as "Erma," Walter Charles as "Captain," Robert Creighton as "Purser," Andrew Cao as "Luke," and Raymond J. Lee as "John."Additional cast members include Clyde Alves, Ward Billeisen, Joyce Chittick, Daniel J. Edwards, Kimberly Fauré, Josh Franklin, Justin Greer, Tari Kelly, Michelle Lookadoo, Shina Ann Morris, Linda Mugleston, Kevin Munhall, Mary Michael Patterson, Adam Perry, Hayley Podschun, William Ryall, Jennifer Savelli, Anthony Wayne, Kristen Beth Williams.
Ghostlight Records will release the new Broadway cast recording of Roundabout Theatre Company's 2011 Tony® Award winning critically acclaimed in stores on September 20th, 2011. It is currently available digitally.
ALL ABOARD for this saucy and splendid new production of Cole Porter's musical romp across the Atlantic. When the S.S. American heads out to sea, etiquette and convention head out the portholes as two unlikely pairs set off on the course to true love... proving that sometimes destiny needs a little help from a crew of singing sailors, an exotic disguise and some good old-fashioned blackmail. Peppering this hilariously bumpy ride are some of musical theater's most memorable standards, including "You're the Top," "Blow, Gabriel, Blow," "It's De-Lovely," "I Get A Kick Out of You," and "Anything Goes."
Sutton Foster (Reno Sweeney) received the 2011 Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle award for "Reno Sweeney" in Roundabout Theatre Company's Tony Award winning production of Anything Goes. Sutton recently starred on Broadway as Princess Fiona in Shrek: The Musical, for which she was honored with Tony and Drama Desk nominations, and the Outer Critics Circle Award. Prior to that, Sutton was Inga in the Mel Brooks musical, Young Frankenstein, Janet Van De Graaff in The Drowsy Chaperone (2006 Tony and Drama Desk Award nominations, LA Ovation Award) and Jo March in Little Women: The Musical (2005 Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle Award nominations). She is the recipient of the 2002 Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, and Astaire Awards for her performance as Millie Dillmount in Thoroughly Modern Millie, a role she created in the 2000 La Jolla Playhouse premiere. Other Broadway credits include Les Miserables, Annie, The Scarlet Pimpernel, and Grease!. Regional productions include What the World Needs Now (Old Globe), Dorian (Goodspeed), The Three Musketeers (San Jose Musical Theater), Nellie Forbush in South Pacific and Sally in Me and My Girl (both at Pittsburgh CLO). She has toured nationally in The Will Rogers Follies, Les Miserables, and Grease!. She has appeared as Svetlana in Chess in Concert and as the "I'm the Greatest Star" Fanny Brice in Funny Girl in Concert, both Actors Fund of America benefits. On television, Sutton recently guest starred on "Law & Order: SVU." Other appearances include the Disney Channel's "Johnny and the Sprites" and several episodes of the HBO series, "The Flight of the Conchords." Sutton has performed in concert at Lincoln Center's American Songbook series, with Peter Nero and the Philly Pops, with the New York Pops at Carnegie Hall, at Feinstein's, Joe's Pub, and at concert halls and theaters across the country. Recordings include The Maury Yeston Songbook (PS Classics), Jule Styne in Hollywood, and the original cast recordings of Thoroughly Modern Millie, Little Women, The Drowsy Chaperone, Young Frankenstein and Shrek. Her debut solo CD, Wish (Ghostlight Records), was recently released to critical acclaim and is now available in stores. She has just completed a sold-out limited run of the highly-anticipated City Center Encores! production of Stephen Sondheim's Anyone Can Whistle, starring as Nurse Fay Apple. She is a proud teacher at New York University and Ball State University. Visit her website: www.suttonfoster.com.
Stephanie J. Block (Reno Sweeney) has established herself as one of the most relevant and versatile voices in contemporary musical theatre. Her most recent Broadway smash was 9 To 5: The Musical working alongside Dolly Parton and Allison Janney. Her portrayal of Judy Bernly earned her a Drama Desk nomination for Best Actress in a Musical. She is best known for her portrayal as Elphaba in the Broadway company of Wicked and for creating the roles of Grace O'Malley in The Pirate Queen and Liza Minnelli in The Boy From Oz (opposite Hugh Jackman). She also originated the starring role of Elphaba in the First National Touring Company of Wicked for which she won the prestigious Helen Hayes Award in for Outstanding Actress and Florida's Carbonell Award for Best Actress in a Musical. Ms. Block has sung with numerous symphony orchestras including the Boston Pops, National Symphony Orchestra (under the baton of Marvin Hamlisch), Utah Symphony, Columbus Symphony, Charlotte Symphony and the Cleveland Pops among many others. Her solo concert has been critically acclaimed and continues to sell out throughout the US and in London. Some of her Off-Broadway and regional theatrical credits include By The Way, Meet Vera Stark, They're Playing Our Song (starring opposite Jason Alexander), Cats (St Louis' Kevin Kline Award Nominee- Best Actress), Funny Girl, Crazy For You (L.A. Ovation Award Nominee), Oliver (Critics Award-Best Actress), James Joyce's The Dead, Triumph Of Love,The Grass Harp, South Pacific, Will Rogers Follies and the World Premiere of Wicked. Stephanie's solo album, This Place I Know has been received with great praise, lauded by critics as "One of the best debut recordings to come out of the Broadway community in quite some time... 6 out of 5 stars". An array of award-winning songwriters assembled to help interpret their music on Stephanie's album. Composers such as Stephen Schwartz, Marvin Hamlisch and the legendary Dolly Parton join forces with Ms. Block to create a thrilling musical experience. Stephanie's voice can be heard on multiple cast recordings, including The Boy From Oz, The Pirate Queen, Wicked's 5th Anniversary Album and 9 To 5: The Musical (Grammy Nomination). stephaniejblock.com.
Joel Grey (Moonface Martin). In a career that was launched in the early 1950's, Joel Grey has created indelible stage roles each decade since: as the iconic M.C. in Cabaret (1966, Tony Award), as song and dance man George M. Cohan in George M! (1967, Tony nomination), as Charley VII in Goodtime Charlie (1975, Tony nomination), as Jacobowsky in The Grand Tour (1979, Tony nomination), as Olim in New York City Opera's Silverlake (1981), as Amos Hart in the landmark revival of Chicago (1996), and as the Wonderful Wizard of Oz in Wicked (2004). Joel's non-musical stage roles include John Guare's Marco Polo Sings a Solo (1975) at The Public Theatre; the title role in the Williamstown Theatre Festival production of Chekhov's Platonov (1978); Larry Kramer's seminal The Normal Heart (1986) at The Public Theatre; The American Repertory Theatre's production of Ibsen's When We Dead Awaken (1991) at the Sao Paulo Biennale, directed by Robert Wilson; Herringbone at the Hartford Stage (1992); John Patrick Shanley's A Fool and Her Fortune (NY Stage and Film, 1992); and in the Roundabout Theatre production of Brian Friel's Give Me Your Answer, Do! (1999), for which he received a Drama Desk Award nomination. Grey's film credits include Cabaret (Academy Award), Frank Perry's Man on A Swing (1974), Robert Altman's Buffalo Bill and the Indians (1976); Herbert Ross' The Seven Percent Solution (1976); Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins (1985, Golden Globe Nomination); Steven Soderbergh's Kafka (1991); Altman's The Player (1992); Phillip Haas' The Music of Chance (1993); Michael Ritchie's adaptation of The Fantasticks (2000); Lars von Trier's Dancer in the Dark (2000) with Bjork and Catherine Deneuve; and Clark Gregg's Choke, which premiered at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival. Joel's recent television credits include "Alias," "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," "Brooklyn Bridge," (Emmy Award-nomination), "Oz," "Law and Order: Criminal Intent," "House," "Brothers & Sisters," "Private Practice," and "Grey's Anatomy." In April 2010, The Paley Center for Media in New York presented "An Evening with Joel Grey," celebrating Joel's remarkable, multi-decade career in television. Joel is also an internationally exhibited, acclaimed photographer. He has had three photography books published: Pictures I Had to Take (2003), Looking Hard at Unexamined Things (2006), and 1.3: Images from My Phone (2009). Joel Grey is one of only eight actors to have won both the Tony and Academy award for the same role. In 1984, he was inducted into the Theatre Hall of Fame and has received his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He is also the recipient of the Distinguished Artist Award from the Los Angeles Music Center. In 1993, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis presented Joel with the Municipal Arts Society medal naming him a Living New York Landmark. In October 2009, Grey performed at Carnegie Hall, alongside Lady Gaga, Bono, Rufus Wainwright and more to benefit (RED) and help stop AIDS in Africa. He is currently directing an all-star, one-night only staged reading of Larry Kramer's The Normal Heart on Broadway to benefit The Actors Fund and Friends In Deed.
Tickets are available by calling Telecharge.com at (212)239-6200 / (800)432-7250, online at www.Telecharge.com/AG, or at The Stephen Sondheim Theatre Box Office (124 W. 43rd St).
Ticket prices range from $92-$137.
Roundabout Subscribers save up to 50% off of ticket prices and have access to special in-theatre events and perks. To become a Roundabout Subscriber, visit www.roundabouttheatre.org/joinnow or call Roundabout Ticket Services (212)719-1300 today.
Anything Goes plays Tuesday evenings at 7:00PM, Wednesday through Saturday evenings at 8:00PM with a Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday matinee at 2:00PM.
Roundabout Theatre Company's 2011-2012 season features Terence Rattigan's Man & Boy, starring Frank Langella, directed by Maria Aitken; Stephen Karam's Sons of the Prophet, directed by Peter DuBois; Andrew Hinderaker's Suicide, Incorporated, directed by Jonathan Berry; Athol Fugard's The Road To Mecca starring RoseMary Harris, Carla Gugino & Jim Dale, directed by Gordon Edelstein and John Osborne's Look Back in Anger, directed by Sam Gold. Roundabout's Tony Award winning production of Anything Goes starring Sutton Foster & Joel Grey, directed & choreographed by Kathleen Marshall, is currently playing at the Stephen Sondheim Theater.
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