Bailiwick Chicago Announces Casting for 2014 Productions of DESSA ROSE & CARRIE

Bailiwick Chicago has announced casting for its 2013-14 Season, which features two stunning musicals in their Chicago premieres. Leading the cast of the stirring musical drama Dessa Rose are Sydney Charles as Dessa Rose (The Color Purple, The Mercury Theatre; Smokey Joe's Café, Theo Ubique) and Collective Member Harmony France as Ruth (Violet, Bailiwick Chicago-Jeff nomination; Tell Me on A Sunday, Bailiwick Repertory) with special guest artist Jayson "JC" Brooks as Nathan (Passing Strange, Bailiwick Chicago). The 2012 Off-Broadway revival version of the infamous 1988 musical CARRIE will star Callie Johnson (Pal Joey, Porchlight Music Theatre-Jeff Award; Next to Normal, Drury Lane Oak Brook) as Carrie and Katherine L. Condit as Margaret White (Chess, Original Broadway Company; Joseph and A Chorus Line, National Tours).

The cast of Dessa Rose also includes Brigitte Ditmars (Ruth's Mother), Gilbert Domally (Male Ensemble), JaSondra Johnson (Dorcas), Jaymes Osbourne (Kaine), Steven Perkins (Harker), Pavi Proczko (Mr. Steele), David Schlumpf (Nehemiah) and Eunice Woods (Rose).

CARRIE will also feature Collective Members Samantha Dubina (Chris), Kate Garassino (Gardner) and Ryan Lanning (Stephens/Bliss) with Kasey Alfonso (Norma), Nathan Gardner (George), Damon Gillespie (Freddie), Kelly Krauter (Helen), Henry McGuinniss (Tommy), Patrick Rooney (Billy), Brooke Singer (Frieda), Rochelle Therrien (Sue) and George Toles (Stokes).

March 6 - April 5, 2014
Dessa Rose - Chicago Premiere!
Book and Lyrics by Lynn Ahrens, Music by Stephen Flaherty
Directed by Artistic Director Lili-Anne Brown
Music Direction by Collective Member James Morehead
at Victory Gardens Richard Christiansen Theater, 2433 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago

Dessa Rose is a stirring musical drama based on the noted novel by Sherley Anne Williams. Told as an oral history and related by two women, Ruth and Dessa Rose, this powerful tale of an unlikely friendship takes place in 1847, 14 years before the outbreak of the American Civil War.

Based on both fact and fiction, the musical weaves together the stories of two real women, one white and one black, who struggled for different kinds of freedom in an era defined by men. Ruth Sutton is a white woman abandoned by her husband and living on an isolated farm. Dessa Rose is an escaped slave on the run from a bloody slave rebellion, with a newborn infant to protect, who seeks refuge with Ruth. Hidden in this Alabama backwater, the two women's uneasy alliance ultimately transcends any racial barriers as they find the strength to confront the world on their own terms. Their dangerous journey to freedom and self-realization makes for a musical that is by turns comic, tragic, uplifting and inspiring. Dessa Rose features book, lyrics and music from the Tony Award-winning team behind Ragtime, Once on This Island and Seussical!.

May 29 - July 12, 2014
CARRIE - Chicago Premiere!
Book by Lawrence D. Cohen, Lyrics by Dean Pitchford, Music by Michael Gore
Directed by Collective Member Christopher Pazdernik
Music Direction by Collective Member Aaron Benham
at Victory Gardens Richard Christiansen Theater, 2433 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago

Carrie White is a misfit. At school, she's an outcast who's bullied by the popular crowd, and virtually invisible to everyone else. At home, she's at the mercy of her loving but cruelly over-protective mother. But Carrie's just discovered she's got a special power, and if pushed too far, she's not afraid to use it...

Based on Stephen King's bestselling novel of the same name, the show's original authors have newly reworked and fully re-imagined the vision of this gripping tale. Set today in the small town of Chamberlain, Maine, CARRIE features a book by Lawrence D. Cohen (screenwriter of the classic film), music by Academy Award-winner Michael Gore (Fame, Terms of Endearment), and lyrics by Academy Award-winner Dean Pitchford (Fame, Footloose).

The 2013-14 Season also marks Bailiwick Chicago's participation in Victory Gardens Theater's inaugural Resident Theater Program. Tickets for the 2013-14 Season will go on sale at a later date. For updates and additional information visit bailiwickchicago.com.

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