Cast Announced For ALL THAT HE WAS At Pride Films & Plays, Opening August 12

A brand-new version of the award-winning 1993 musical ALL THAT HE WAS to open on August 12, 2019 at Pride Arts Center.

Full cast announced for musical by Cindy O'Connor and Larry Todd Cousineau The 1993 AIDS-themed musical ALL THAT HE WAS is set to open on August 12 at the Pride Arts Center. The writers have crafted a special version of the show specifically for the Pride venue, with new music and a newly revised script.

With music by Cindy O'Connor and book and lyrics by Larry Todd (Johnson) Cousineau, this winner of the National Playwright's Award and the ACTF Musical Theatre Award is a moving and surprisingly funny account of one man's struggle with AIDS and the reverberations of his death. The deceased functions as host and narrator, invisible among the friends and family assembled to pay him final respects. Hoping for a day when the shattered pieces of his life can come together, he leads them on a journey of shared reminiscences.

Cousineau, who will direct the musical, announced his cast today. The cast will include Matthew Huston as "The Man," the central character who has recently succumbed to AIDS. Huston was a Jeff Award nominee for Performer in a Leading Role - Musical for his performance in YANK! A WWII LOVE STORY with Pride Films and Plays in 2018. Appearing as the lover, friends and family of "The Man" will be Joe Giovannetti (THE MOST HAPPY FELLA and THE FULL MONTY with Theo Ubique) as "The Lover," Brittney Brown (soon to be in HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH with Theo Ubique) as "The Girlfriend," Ethan Warren (SHREK at Marriott Theatre) as "The Brother," Sarah Hayes (IT'S ONLY A PLAY with Pride Films and Plays) as "The Mother," Rick Rapp (ANYTHING GOES with Music Theater Works) as "The Father," Colleen Perry (WOMEN OF SOUL at Black Ensemble Theatre) as "The Counselor," Sarah Ruth Mikulski as "The Sister," and Alanna Kalbfleisch as "The Doctor." Understudies will include Ben Broughton, Mary Laura Godby, and Michael Pesoli. Cody Michael Bradley will be Music Director, Shawn Quinlan will design the costumes, and Jake Ganzer will be Movement Director.

ALL THAT HE WAS toured nationally in the 90's, was featured at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC, and represented the US at the Festival Vox Humana in Barcelona, Spain, before settling in to a critically-acclaimed run in Los Angeles, where it received a Robby award for Best New Musical. The Los Angeles Times said it "Arches from dysfunctionalism, jealousies and misunderstandings to unsteady truces and well-earned unities ...It carries on a bright, serious, witty and inclusive dialogue with anyone who may sit down in front of it." The hit song from ALL THAT HE WAS, "Our First Christmas", is featured on the Gay Men's Chorus of Los Angeles' 2018 CD, JOYFUL AND TRIUMPHANT, now available on iTunes.

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