Video: Watch Clips from Joe Iconis's HUNTER S. THOMPSON MUSICAL at La Jolla Playhouse

La Jolla Playhouse has released video footage from the world-premiere production of The Untitled Unauthorized Hunter S. Thompson Musical, music and lyrics by Joe Iconis (Be More Chill), book by Joe Iconis and Gregory S. Moss, choreographed by Jon Rua (Playhouse’s Hands on a Hardbody) and directed by Tony Award winner Christopher Ashley, the Rich Family Artistic Director of La Jolla Playhouse (Come From Away), now running through October 8 in the Playhouse’s Sheila and Hughes Potiker Theatre.

Watch the footage below! 

The cast features George Abud (Playhouse’s Lempicka) as “Nixon,” Jeannette Bayardelle (Playhouse’s Freaky Friday) as “Jann,” Giovanny Diaz de Leon as “The Kid,” Gabriel Ebert as “Hunter,” Marcy Harriell as “Sandy,” Lorinda Lisitza as “Virginia,” Lauren Marcus as “Flower Child,” George Salazar as “Oscar,” Ryan Vona as “Juan,” Jason SweetTooth Williams (Playhouse’s Freaky Friday) as “Ralph,” along with understudies Summer Broyhill, Josiah Cajudo and Kürt Norby.

The creative team includes: Rick Edinger, Music Supervisor and Arrangements; Wilson Chin, Scenic Designer; Toni-Leslie James, Costume Designer; Amanda Zieve, Lighting Designer; Justin Stasiw, Sound Designer; Animal Cracker Conspiracy (Without Walls Festival’s Transmythical), Puppet Designer; Alberto “Albee” Alvarado, Wig & Hair Designer; Shirley Fishman, Dramaturg; Ann James, Sensitivity Specialist; Charlie Rosen, Orchestrator; The Telsey Office, Rachel Hoffman, CSA and Jacole Kitchen, Casting; Jess Slocum, Stage Manager; and Topaz Cooks and Nicholas Lambros Smith, Assistant Stage Managers.

Who was Hunter S. Thompson? He changed journalism. He defined counterculture. Equal parts philosopher, clown and genius, he was armed and dangerous with a typewriter as his preferred weapon. Careening from the 1940s to his death in 2005, this gonzo musical blasts into the life of one of America’s most influential and destructive icons. In relentless pursuit of the meaning of the American Dream during an era of political and social upheaval, Hunter S. Thompson cultivated a new form of journalism that – for better or worse – injected his subjective view into the heart of the story. Now, in another, even more severe moment of fake news, propaganda and polarization, Hunter’s story helps explore how we got here, and how to keep fighting. Set to Joe Iconis’ anarchic and tuneful score, this musical is a rock ‘n’ roll portrait of an artist seeking greatness and coming to terms with his own legacy.

La Jolla Playhouse is a place where artists and audiences come together to create what’s new and next in the American theatre, from Tony Award-winning productions, to imaginative programs for young audiences, to interactive experiences outside our theatre walls. Founded in 1947 by Gregory Peck, Dorothy McGuire and Mel Ferrer, the Playhouse is currently led by Tony Award winner Christopher Ashley, the Rich Family Artistic Director of La Jolla Playhouse, and Managing Director Debby Buchholz. The Playhouse is internationally renowned for the development of new works, including mounting 110 world premieres, commissioning 70 new works, and sending 33 productions to Broadway, garnering a total of 38 Tony Awards, as well as the 1993 Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre.

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