Osnes, von Essen, Graff and More Cast in Kennedy Center's 'Three Generations'

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts announces new casting for Broadway: Three Generations, a three act evening featuring condensed versions of Girl Crazy, Bye Bye Birdie, and Side Show.  Lonny Price will direct staged concert performances featuring an award-winning cast, including Brooks Ashmanskas, Lisa Brescia, Jenn Colella, Randy Graff, Michael McElroy, Michael Mulheren, Laura Osnes, and Max von Essen.  The production will officially re-open the renovated Eisenhower Theater and will track the development of the Broadway musical over three overlapping generations of composers.  

The early generation, marked by the musicals of Kern, Rodgers, and Porter, is represented by George & Ira Gershwin's musical comedy Girl Crazy.  Featuring such popular songs such as "Embraceable You" and "I Got Rhythm," the classic 1930s musical tells of the son of a wealthy Manhattanite who is shipped to an all-male southwestern university to forestall his playboy ways.  There, he falls for a pretty but uninterested local girl and saves the university from financial ruin by making it co-ed.  Max von Essen will play the role of Danny Churchill and Tony Award® winner Randy Graff will play Kate Fothergill, the role that launched Ethel Merman's career.  Brooks Ashmanskas will perform the role of Slick Fothergill and Jenn Colella will play Molly Gray, a role originally played by Ginger Rogers.

The second generation, marked by the work of Styne, Sondheim, Herman, and Kander, will be represented by Bye Bye Birdie.  With music by Charles Strouse, lyrics by Lee Adams and book by Michael Stewart, the musical opened on Broadway April 14, 1960 and won four Tony Awards® including Best Musical, Best Choreography and Best Direction. The musical follows rock and roll superstar Conrad Birdie and the complications that arise when his agent stages a publicity stunt on "The Ed Sullivan Show" in which he will kiss one lucky girl from Sweet Apple, Ohio before being drafted into the Army.  Casting for the Kennedy Center performances will include Brooks Ashmanskas as Albert Peterson, Lisa Brescia as Mrs. MacAfee, and Randy Graff as Mae Peterson.

Broadway's current generation of songwriters - Guettel, Flaherty, LaChiusa, and Yazbeck - is represented by Henry Krieger & Bill Russell's Side Show.  Telling the story of conjoined twins Violet and Daisy Hilton, the musical earned five Tony Award® nominations after its opening on October 16, 1997.  Jenn Colella will play Daisy Hilton and Lisa Brescia will play Violet Hilton. Michael McElroy will play the role of Jake, Michael Mulheren will play Boss, and Max von Essen will play Terry Connor.

Brooks Ashmanskas will play the roles of Slick Fothergill in Girl Crazy and Albert Peterson in Bye Bye Birdie.  His Broadway credits include The Ritz, On the Twentieth Century, Gypsy, The Producers, Little Me, Dream, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying and Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me, which earned him a Tony® nomination for Best Featured Actor.

Lisa Brescia will play the roles of Mrs. MacAfee in Bye Bye Birdie and Violet Hilton in Side Show.  Her Broadway credits include The Times They are A-Changin, The Woman in White, Wicked, Jesus Christ Superstar and Aida.  She is currently performing the role of Elphaba in the Chicago production of Wicked.

Jenn Colella will play the roles of Molly Gray in Girl Crazy and Daisy Hilton in Side Show.  She recently started in the title role of the Off-Broadway play Beebo Brinker Chronicles.  Her Broadway credits include High Fidelity (Laura) and Urban Cowboy, where she earned an Outer Critics Circle Award nomination for the role of Sissy.  She is performing the title role in Annie Get Your Gun this summer at Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera.

Randy Graff will play the roles of Kate Fothergill in Girl Crazy and Mae Peterson in Bye Bye Birdie.  Her Broadway credits include Fiddler on the Roof, A Class Act (Tony® nomination), High Society, Moon Over Buffalo, Laughter on the 23rd Floor, Falsettos and Les Misérables. Ms. Graff won the 1990 Tony Award® for Best Featured Actress for City of Angels and last appeared at the Kennedy Center in the 2002 Sondheim Celebration production of A Little Night Music.

Michael McElroy will perform the role of Jake in Side Show and will be featured in the quartet from Girl Crazy.  McElroy's Broadway credits include Big River (Tony® nomination), The Wild Party, Rent, The Who's Tommy, High Rollers, Miss Saigon and Candide.  In 2006, he won the Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Lead Actor, Resident Musical for his portrayal of Jim in Big River at Ford's Theatre.

Michael Mulheren will play the role of Boss in Side Show and will appear in the quartet in Girl Crazy.  Mulheren's Broadway credits include The Farnsworth Invention, Deuce, La Cage aux Folles, The Boy From Oz, Kiss Me, Kate (Tony® nomination), Titanic, and On the Waterfront.

Laura Osnes recently completed a year-long run on Broadway as Sandy in the revival of Grease, having won NBC's reality competition "Grease: You're The One That I Want."  Hailing from Minneapolis, MN, Laura's favorite regional roles include Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, Chava in Fiddler on the Roof, Jasmine in Disney's Aladdin, and flying as the title role in Peter Pan.

Max von Essen will play the roles of Danny Churchill in Girl Crazy and Terry Connor in Side Show. His Broadway credits include roles in Les Misérables, Dance of the Vampires and Jesus Christ Superstar.  Mr. von Essen made his Kennedy Center debut in the role of Patrick during the 2006 production of Mame.  

The new Kennedy Center production of Broadway: Three Generations will feature an award-winning design team, including sets by James Noone, costumes by Anne Kennedy, lighting by Ken Billington, and sound design by Peter Hylenski.  James Moore is the Music Director and Tom Briggs serves as adaptor.  
 

BROADWAY: THE THIRD GENERATION

The concert performances of Broadway: Three Generations are part of the Kennedy Center's season-long initiative Broadway: The Third Generation, celebrating the current generation of Broadway musical composers.  The season will include a new Kennedy Center production of Ragtime; a free concert in the Opera House to celebrate the 12th anniversary of the Millennium Stage hosted by Stephen Schwartz and featuring Scott Frankel, Michael Korie, Jeanine Tesori, Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens followed by a full week of performances by up-and-coming Broadway composers; a  newly commissioned Theater for Young Audiences production of The Trumpet of the Swan, based on the children's book by E.B. White which is adapted for the stage by Marsha Norman with music by Jason Robert Brown; a co-production of Michael John LaChiusa's Giant to appear at Alexandria's Signature Theatre as part of the Kennedy Center Fund for New American Plays; and the nationally touring production of Spring Awakening.

TICKET INFORMATION

Performances for Broadway: Three Generations will run October 2-5, 2008 with performances Thursday through Saturday at 7:30 PM and Saturday and Sunday at 1:30 PM.  Tickets from $25 to $90 will go on sale August 11, 2008 and will be available for purchase at the Kennedy Center box office or by calling Instant Charge at (202) 467-4600. Patrons living outside the Washington metropolitan area may dial toll-free at (800) 444-1324 or visit us online at www.kennedy-center.org.

Photo Credit Linda Lenzi