WaterTower Theatre Announces Cast & Creative Details for the World Premiere of
GOIN’ HOLLYWOOD
WaterTower Theatre Producing Artistic Director Shane Peterman and Associate Producer Elizabeth Kensek are proud to announce casting and creative details for the world premiere of GOIN’ HOLLYWOOD, a new musical by Stephen Cole & David Krane. WaterTower’s production is led by director Gabriel Barre, music director Lawrence Yurman and choreographer Ann Nieman. This is the final production of WaterTower’s 27th Season.
WaterTower is proud to be able to be the first theatre to bring this new show to life. With book & lyrics written by Stephen Cole, music by David Krane, & orchestrations by David Krane & Bruce Coughlin. Cole & Krane had this to say about their show:
"As we worked on other musicals like Aspire, The Road to Qatar! and Inventing Mary Martin, we would get together and dream about how great our careers might have been if only we had been born before our time and got to work during the golden age of movie musicals. If only we could have been at MGM when they were making Singin' in the Rain! We would have ruled the world. ‘Say’, we said, ‘that's an idea for an original musical with a brand-new score’. Five years, three readings and several workshops later we find ourselves at the WaterTower working with top notch talent on a thrilling world premiere of our fantasy...Goin' Hollywood!"
Have you ever wished you were born in a different time? Alice Chandler did. Alice does not feel like she belongs in the 21st Century, but she never dreamed that while at lunch with her best friend and writing partner, Garson Stein, a magical birthday wish would find them both instantly transported back in time to 1949 Hollywood. What do you do when you get your wish? Alice and Garson land smack in the golden age of movie musicals, where they land their dream job writing for L. B. Mayer at MGM Studios and are surrounded by glittering stars of Hollywood, but they soon see that under all the glamour lies a studio system crumbling, the blacklist threatening their closest allies, and their eyes are opened to Hollywood’s darker side. WaterTower’s 27th season wraps up in style with Goin’ Hollywood, a big splashy musical, with a heart as big as MGM, and a totally original, catchy, jazz-tinged score. It will premiere on the Terry Martin Main Stage from July 19th through July 30th, 2023 at the Addison Theatre Centre.
WaterTower Theatre is extremely proud to present the World Premiere of this brand-new musical filled with Hollywood glamour, romance, and intrigue. The musical received a reading in NYC in 2018, and then a demo recording featuring Broadway stars Santino Fontana, Jenn Gambatese, Tony Yazbeck, & Bill Nolte. It was then workshopped and revised in 2021 at WaterTower Theatre which led to the development of the final script which will be brought to stage & produced as a fully realized production for the first time ever here in North Dallas.
The production stars Alison Whitehurst as Alice Chandler & Brian Hathaway as Garson Stein who travel back in time to try their hand at becoming a Hollywood writing duo in 1949. They quickly encounter AJ Engerman, played by Cooper Grodin, who heads up the embattled MGM Writers room, played by Jovane Caamaño, Jarrett Self, Micah JL Brooks, and Andrew Nicholas, as well as a brassy mail girl named Nancy, played by Jocelyn Hansen, who is about to turn the studio upside down by heading up a mailroom strike- set to become a battle which takes her toe-to-toe with the legendary MGM Producer and star maker LB Mayer, played by Stan Graner. Alice & Garson find their sudden successes threatened on all fronts as they try to survive another time while navigating rampant corruption, antisemitism, and sexism. The show includes as ensemble of skilled singers, dancers, and actors including Mary Kim, Taylor Hadsell, Ireland Reneau, Mikki Hankins, Jonah Munroe, Michael Alonzo, Anthony J. Ortega, and Bryan Brooks who portray legendary Hollywood stars, MGM employees and many other characters.
The creative & production team includes Bob Lavallee as Set Designer, Sarah Mosher as Costume Designer, Michael B. Moore as Wig Designer, Jane Quetin as Properties Designer, Sam Rushen as Lighting & Projections Designer, Mark Howard as Sound Designer & Engineer, Christopher Treviño as Production Stage Manager, and Ania Lyons as Assistant Stage Manager. The directors will be supported by Assistant Directors, Erica Harkins & Maxwell J. Evans.
The production has been approved by Actors Equity Association under their fully vaccinated safety protocols for indoor productions, ensuring the safety of both artists and patrons alike.
Contains adult situations. Recommended for ages 12 and above.
WaterTower Theatre’s 2022-2023 Season Sponsor is the Town of Addison.
ABOUT THE CREATIVE TEAM:
Book & Lyrics by Stephen Cole Stephen Cole is an award-winning musical theatre writer whose shows have been recorded, published & produced from New York City to London to the Middle East, Australia, Edinburgh, Scotland. In 2005, Stephen and composer David Krane were commissioned to write the first American musical to premiere in the Middle East, ASPIRE, which was produced in Qatar. Their amazing and hilarious cross-cultural experiences resulted in yet another musical about the creation of the show entitled THE ROAD TO QATAR! which was produced to rave reviews at the Lyric Stage and was awarded Best Musical from the Dallas-Ft. Worth Drama Critics Forum. THE ROAD TO QATAR! had a successful Off-Broadway run at the York Theatre and was recorded by Jay Records. In 2012, QATAR! was presented as part of London's Landor Theatre 'Page to Stage Festival' and in 2013, played at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival garnering 4 and 5-star reviews plus nominations as Best Music, Lyrics, Book & Best Musical of the Festival. The show is published & licensed by Josef Weinberger, Ltd. in London. Krane & Cole also wrote a short movie musical entitled THE WHEEL GOES ROUND that was accepted and shown at five International Film Festivals including The Big Apple Film Festival in NYC. www.stephencolewriter.org
Music by David Krane DAVID KRANE arranged & produced two songs for Golden Globe Winner and Oscar nominated Michelle Williams to sing as Marilyn Monroe in the acclaimed film, MY WEEK WITH MARILYN, has created the dance music & additional score adaptation for the Oscar-winning film, CHICAGO, has written all new music arrangements & additional score adaptation for the film version of NINE, has coached Meryl Streep for the film version of INTO THE WOODS, for which he has also adapted the musical score, and has written dance and additional arrangements for MARY POPPINS RETURNS. He has composed dance music and arrangements for over 35 Broadway shows, including 110 IN THE SHADE, LA CAGE AUX FOLLES, CABARET, MAN OF LA MANCHA, OKLAHOMA!, KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN, THE MUSIC MAN, SHOWBOAT, RAGTIME, VICTOR/VICTORIA, DAMN YANKEES, ON THE 20th CENTURY & SHE LOVES ME. www.davidkrane.com
Gabriel Barre
Gabriel Barre (Director) is an American director and actor. Best known for creating original musicals, his work has been seen on Broadway, throughout the United States, and across four continents internationally.
Gabriel directed the Broadway production of Amazing Grace, which also toured the country and was a sit-down production at the new Museum of the Bible in Washington, DC in 2019. In New York City, he is known for his off-Broadway work: he directed the original production of Andrew Lippa’s, The Wild Party at the Manhattan Theatre Club starring Idina Menzel, Taye Diggs, Brian Darcy James and Julia Murney. He was awarded the Calloway Award for Best Direction and was nominated for five Outer Critics Circle Awards and thirteen Drama Desk Awards, both including Best Direction of a Musical. He directed the original production of John Cariani’s Almost, Maine at the Daryl Roth Theatre, which has become one of the most frequently produced plays in the United States with over 4000 productions to date. It has been translated into a dozen languages and recently unseated Shakespeare as the most produced play in North American high schools.
Nationally, he directed the US national tour of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s, Cinderella, starring Eartha Kitt, which performed at NYC’s Madison Square Garden; it toured and played regionally in the US for three years. He also directed the national tour of Pippin, which originated at the Goodspeed Opera House in Connecticut and played throughout the US and Canada. In 2015 he created the widely acclaimed new Stephen Schwartz musical Magic to Do for Princess Cruise Lines which is still running on 3 international vessels, and plans are being launched to bring the show to land in the form of a US National Tour.
His concert work includes the American Songbook Series at Lincoln Center three years in a row, several Musical by the Year concerts at Town Hall, the concert version of Pippin for World Aids Day, and The Four Seasons at Lincoln Center. Most recently he directed a concert of The Scarlet Pimpernel at Lincoln Center in 2019 with Manhattan Concert Productions.
As an actor, Gabriel Barre was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical for his performance in Starmites. He won a Bistro Award as an original cast member in Forever Plaid. Other performing credits include Ragtime (final Toronto workshop), Ain't Broadway Grand, Rags, Anna Karenina (original Broadway companies), Barnum (first national tour); Off-Broadway: Return to the Forbidden Planet, The Petrified Prince at the Public Theatre, Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris, which he also provided the musical staging for, A Fine and Private Place, which he also directed, The Tempest, and The Mistress of the Inn (both at The Roundabout Theatre,) Marathon Dancing directed by Anne Bogart at En Garde Arts, El Greco with INTAR at Playhouse 91, as well as numerous productions at Mirror Repertory Company, Lamb's Theatre, Playwright's Horizons, Jewish Repertory Theatre, York Theatre and LaMama E.T.C.
Lawrence Yurman
Lawrence Yurman (Music Director) is a pianist, arranger, and conductor with 30 years of experience on Broadway and beyond. He was the music director/arranger of the Broadway revival of On a Clear Day You Can See Forever, starring Harry Connick, Jr., and provided similar contributions to the recent Broadway musical It Shoulda Been You. Additional Broadway music directing and/or conducting credits include War Paint, Grey Gardens, A Wonderful Life, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Side Show, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Guys and Dolls, Les Misérables, Marie Christine and The Radio City Christmas Spectacular. He has provided arrangements for and recorded with Lea Salonga, Christine Ebersole, Howard McGillin, T. Oliver Reid, Anne Runolfsson and Sam Harris and Laurie Beechman. He has 11 Broadway cast albums to his credit. Television credits include 12 seasons of playing for the American Idol cast-offs on Live! (with Regis, then Kelly and Michael), as well as appearances on The Late Show with David Letterman and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. He has been an adjunct faculty member at New York University’s graduate acting program since 1984. Mr. Yurman is a graduate of Oberlin College and the Juilliard Prep Division.