Cast Announced for Chicago Premiere of off-Broadway Musical FLY BY NIGHT
By: A.A. Cristi Aug. 11, 2016
Complete casting has been announced for Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre's Chicago premiere of the heralded off-Broadway musical Fly by Night - the story of a love triangle between a young sandwich maker and two sisters recently relocated from South Dakota to New York.
Playing the Narrator (who also assumes multiple roles) will be Jordan Phelps, a Jeff Award nominee this year for Theo Ubique's production of Blood Brothers who has also appeared at Theo in A Kurt Weill Cabaret. The sandwich maker's love interests will be played by Meredith Kochan (who won rave reviews for her work in The Fantasticks and Fiddler on the Roof at Light Opera Works) and Kyrie Anderson, a 2016 Jeff award nominee for her performance in Theo Ubique's Blood Brothers.
Sandwich artist Harold McClam will be James C.W. Romney, whose credits include Puck in A Midsummer Night's Dream at Texas Shakespeare Festival and understudy for Niegus in The Merry Widow at Lyric Opera.
Sean Thomas will return to Theo Ubique, where he starred in Aspects of Love, to play Harold's father. Thomas recently played Herbie opposite Broadway's Michelle Ragusa as Rose in the Capital City Theatre (Madison, WI) production of Gypsy, and has appeared in national tours of The Phantom of the Opera and LES MISERABLES as well as two seasons of The Christmas Schooner at Mercury Theatre. He will be joined by Daniel Waters who will play the sandwich shop owner Mr. Crabble. Waters appeared in Theo's Aspects of Love and Man of La Mancha and understudied several roles in The Mercury Theatre's Avenue Q. Jon Stombres, currently understudying in Kokandy's Tomorrow Morning and is set to play George Bailey in It's a Wonderful Life at Metropolis Arts Center later this year, has been cast as Joey Storms - a rich and eccentric playwright who complicates the love triangle even further.
Company founder and artistic director Fred Anzevino will direct the production, with music direction by Resident Music Director Jeremy Ramey. Scenic design is by Adam Veness, costume design by Bill Morey and lighting design by James Kolditz. Completing the team will be Mina Slater as Stage Manager and Courtney Crouse as Assistant to the Director.
Fly by Night, produced by New York City's Playwrights Horizons in 2014, is a darkly comic rock fable that tells the tale of a melancholy sandwich maker and his humdrum life, which is intersected by two entrancing sisters. The musical is set against the backdrop of the Northeast blackout of 1965, and unfolds a story about making your way and discovering hope in a world beset with darkness. This original musical was nominated for the 2015 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Musical. The New York Post said "Fly by Night will enchant audiences...Romance doesn't come any sweeter than it does in this winsome love triangle set around the time of the 1965 New York blackout. The score is charming and catchy. Its unabashed emotionalism could turn it into more than a hit. It could turn it into a cult phenomenon."Videos
