Producer Orin Wolf and Off the Aisle Productions have announced that It Must Be Him, a new comedy by Kenny Solms, co-creator and writer of the legendary, Emmy® Award-winning "Carol Burnett Show," will premiere this summer at the Peter J. Sharp Theatre (416 West 42nd Street). Directed by Daniel Kutner, It Must Be Him will begin performances on Tuesday, August 24, and officially open on Wednesday, September 1. The limited engagement ends Sunday, September 26.
The cast of It Must Be Him features 3-time Emmy® Award nominee
Peter Scolari and Emmy® Award and Golden Globe® Award nominee Liz Torres, along with
PatRick Cummings (Happiness), Tony® Award nominee
Stephanie D'Abruzzo (Avenue Q),
Harris Doran (Love Jerry),
Ryan Duncan (Altar Boyz),
John Treacy Egan (The Producers), Tony® Award nominee
Jonathan C. Kaplan (Falsettos),
David Margulies (45 Seconds From Broadway), Tony® Award nominee
Alice Playten (Henry, Sweet Henry),
Edward Staudenmayer (
Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me) and Jessica Tyler Wright (Sweeney Todd).
In It Must Be Him, Louie Wexler (Scolari), a whiz kid comedy writer from the heyday of variety television, is now down on his luck. With his devoted agent (Egan), and his considerably less devoted housekeeper (Torres) by his side, Louie finds himself broke, lonely, and on the wrong side of middle age. Desperate to rekindle his fading career, save his posh
Beverly Hills home and find the man of his dreams, Louie searches high and low for one last shot at his own real-life happy ending.
Special musical material is written by
Larry Grossman (music) and
Ryan Cunningham (lyrics). The creative team features
Wendy Seyb (choreography),
Court Watson (scenic design),
Laurie Churba (costume design),
Joel Silver (lighting design) and
Duncan Edwards (sound design).
The preview performance schedule is as follows: Tuesday, 8/24 at 7:00 PM, Wednesday, 8/25 at 7:00 PM, Thursday, 8/26 at 7:00 PM, Friday, 8/27 at 7:00 PM, Saturday, 8/28 at 3:00 PM and 7:00 PM, Sunday, 8/29 at 3:00 PM and 7:00 PM, Monday, 8/30 at 7:00 PM, and Tuesday 8/31 at 7:00 PM. Beginning on Friday, September 3, the performance schedule is as follows Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday at 7:00 PM, with 3:00 PM matinees on Saturday and Sunday. (Please note: there is an added 7:00 PM performance on Wednesday, 9/8, as there will be no performance on Monday, 9/6.)
Tickets, priced at $65.00, will be available beginning on Tuesday, July 20 via
www.ticketcentral.com /(212) 279-4200, or in person at the Peter J. Sharp Theatre Box Office (416 West 42nd Street).
Kenny Solms (Playwright). If variety is the spice of life,
Kenny Solms has tasted great success. He began his career in New York, where he teamed up with New York University classmate
Gail Parent to create revue material for
Leonard Sillman's last Broadway revue New Faces and for New York's famed Upstairs at the Downstairs. His association with Ms. Parent subsequently became one of the most successful and celebrated comedy partnerships.
Following the runaway success of three comedy albums (including the hilarious spoof of the Luci Baines Johnson Wedding, Our Wedding Album), and a season of
Steve Allen's "Comedy Hour," Solms co-created and wrote the classic Emmy® Award winning "
Carol Burnett Show," for which he also received the Writer's Guild of America Award.
He wrote numerous specials, including those for
Julie Andrews, Ann-Margret,
Danny Thomas, The Osmonds,
Mary Tyler Moore,
Bing Crosby, Second City,
Lily Tomlin,
Dick Van Dyke,
Anne Bancroft,
Bill Cosby, Sills and Burnett at the Met, which won him the Peabody Award, "Burnett Discovers Domingo," a CBS special starring
Carol Burnett and
Placido Domingo which won the Montreaux Prize, and the Emmy Award winning
Neil Diamond Special, "Hello Again." Solms also wrote and produced "The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour," the critically acclaimed "3 Girls 3" and
Home Box Office's first two original comedy specials starring
Carol Burnett and Martin Mull.
Television, however, has never been Solms' sole domain. Lorelei, starring
Carol Channing, lured Kenny back to Broadway to write the new book for the
Jule Styne / Comden & Green musical based on "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes." During Lorelei's two year run, he collaborated with
Gail Parent again on the screenplay for her novel Sheila Levine is Dead and Living in New York starring
Roy Scheider and
Jeannie Berlin.
Solms also conceived and wrote Perfectly Frank, a
Frank Loesser revue which enjoyed a successful run at the Westwood playhouse in Los Angeles before its Broadway run. A year later, he produced it for Showtime starring
Cloris Leachman. He wrote the book for What the World Needs Now, the songs of
Burt Bacharach and
Hal David, which had its world premiere at San Diego's
Old Globe Theatre, and has workshopped Ain't that a Kick in the Head, based on the songs of
Sammy Cahn, as a musical for Broadway.
Kenny has been head writer and producer for numerous television variety specials, including "Texaco Star Theatre's Salute to Broadway," "Disneyland's 30th Anniversary Special," "Live and In Person," "The Homemade Comedy Special," "Disneyland's Summer Vacation Party" and "Showtime's
Joan Rivers' Salute to Heidi Abromowitz." He served as executive producer on "
Bruce Willis: the Return of Bruno," produced and wrote four "This Is Your Life" specials for NBC and his first directorial assignment was an original production of "Plaza Suite" for ABC which he also produced and which starred
Carol Burnett,
Dabney Coleman, Richard Crenna and
HAl Holbrook. His first foray for Fox Broadcasting was headwriting "The 43rd Annual Emmy Awards," giving Fox its highest rating ever for a special. He served as a comedy consultant on King World's "New Candid Camera," and produced and wrote "The Original Amateur Hour," a series for the Family Channel, "
Carol Burnett...a Reunion" for CBS, "Legend to Legend" for NBC, two more "This Is Your Life" specials for NBC, "
Kelsey Grammer Salutes
Jack Benny" for NBC, and episodes for the highly rated "Touched by an Angel," one starring his mentor,
Carol Burnett.
Daniel Kutner (Director) is currently the full-time associate director to Broadway legend
Harold Prince. Projects with Mr. Prince include Lovemusik by
Alfred Uhry at
Manhattan Theatre Club's Biltmore Theatre on Broadway and the recent Paradise Found, a new musical by
Richard Nelson,
Ellen Fitzhugh, &
Jonathan Tunick which premiered at London's
Menier Chocolate Factory this past spring. Dan directed the world premiere, Drama Desk nominated, Off-Broadway hit musical, I Love You Because at the Village Theater, having directed it previously at the National Alliance of Musical Theater. Most recently, Dan co-conceived and directed
Lea Salonga's sold-out debut at the famed Cafe Carlyle, Lea Sal0nga: The Journey So Far. Other credits include a new version of Kander and Ebb's And The World Goes Round which inaugurated the Gettysburg Arts Festival in Pennsylvania and subsequently played the
Prince Music Theater in Philadelphia. Dan has also helmed
Manhattan Theatre Club's 2008 Spring Musical Gala at The Hilton Grand Ballroom, and the 2009 Gala at Cipriani's. New work includes readings of Doug Parker & Denver Cassado's musical, Life On The Mississippi at The York Theatre starring
Ashley Brown and
Charlie Schulman and
Michael Roberts' musical, My American Family, starring
Stephanie J. Block, which will receive a production later this year.
A Temple University graduate and a Philadelphia native, Dan was named the Inaugural Directing Fellow at the
Philadelphia Theatre Company, having worked alongside
Mary B. Robinson, Tony® winner
Anna D. Shapiro,
David Warren and
Pam MacKinnon. In New York, Dan has been the
Robert Moss Directing Resident at
Playwrights Horizons having worked with
Richard Nelson on the world premiere musical, My Life with Albertine (starring
Brent Carver &
Kelli O'Hara), and
John Benjamin Hickey on
Theresa Rebeck's world premiere Bad Dates, starring
Julie White. Upcoming projects: Garbo Returns, a new play by Kristof Bathory starring
Tovah Feldshuh, and Deep Cover, a new musical by
Michael Wolk with
Gorgeous Entertainment.
Off The Aisle Productions, founded by
Orin Wolf and
David F. Schwartz, recently produced A View From the Bridge (Tony® nominated), Groundswell (
The New Group), and Assume the Position with
Robert Wuhl. Other productions include:
Irving Berlin's I Love a Piano, History of the Word, and 25 Questions for a Jewish Mother Starring
Judy Gold. Orin and David are founders of the theatrical booking agency OBB/Off Broadway Booking, which currently represents numerous titles (www.obbnyc.com). Orin conceived History of the Word, which was presented at Crossroads and the
Vineyard Theatre, and was awarded the T-Fellowship for Creative Producing at Columbia University in conjunction with
Hal Prince. A partner with the boutique entertainment law firm Feldshon & Schwartz, David represents Broadway and Off-Broadway producers, talent and creatives, NYMF and clients in other fields including film, television, music and art. Orin and David are graduates of the Commercial Theatre Institute.
