Casting Announced for FIRST DATE, a Collaboration Between ACT and The 5th Avenue Theatre

Eric Ankrim and Kelly Karbacz will go looking for love in First Date, a co-production between ACT - A Contemporary Theatre and The 5th Avenue Theatre. This new musical about one date, two people, and all the voices in their heads, also features Seattle stars Benjamin Harris, Vicki Noon, Brandon O'Neill, Rich Gray, Greg McCormick Allen, and Sonya Meyer, in roles including old boyfriends, ex-fiancées, best friends, and pushy relatives, not to mention fellow diners who intrude on the couple's blind date. The 5th Avenue's Producing Director Bill Berry directs this clever and quirky world premiere romantic comedy with musical staging by Broadway's Josh Prince. With a book by screenwriter Austin Winsberg and music and lyrics by the dynamic writing team of Alan Zachary and Michael Weiner, this comedy chronicles the perils and pitfalls of blind dating and the journey from "tragic mistake" to "true love." Or at least to a second date. 

First Date plays March 10 – May 20, 2012 (press opening March 29) at ACT-A Contemporary Theatre in the Falls Theatre (700 Union Street, Seattle 98101). Tickets (starting at $15.00) may be purchased at both theatres via The 5th Avenue Box Office, 206-625-1900 or online at www.5thavenue.org; and the ACT Ticket Office, 206-292-7676 or at www.acttheatre.org.This is the second production produced in partnership by ACT and The 5th Avenue Theatre.

ACT Artistic Director Kurt Beattie says, "Starting our season with a world premiere musical like First Date is the perfect entrée to a year of new works being presented at ACT. It is fun, modern, and the songs are quite memorable. For us, it's a thrill to create something that we think will have a long life in the industry and to share in that with our partners at The 5th Avenue." 

"This kind of on-going collaboration between two major regional theatres in unprecedented in Seattle, and quite possibly the country," said David Armstrong, The 5th Avenue Theatre's executive producer and artistic director. "It is because of this remarkable partnership that The 5th is able to explore and develop more intimate musicals, while still supporting ACT's mission of producing contemporary works."