Three shows: The Band’s Visit, Mean Girls, and To Kill A Mockingbird recently made major casting announcements!
The Band’s Visit
Launching from Providence in June, the production recently announced the full cast for its inaugural year. Award-winning Israeli film actor Sasson Gabay will reprise the role of “Tewfiq,” the role he created in the 2007 film of The Band’s Visit and most recently played on Broadway. Joining him for the tour is critically acclaimed actress Chilina Kennedy in the role of “Dina.”
“We are honored to have Sasson Gabay and Chilina Kennedy headline our national tour. Very rarely in the history of Broadway has an actor originated a role on film, played it on Broadway and then continued with the tour. This speaks to Sasson’s artistry and his commitment to this particular work.” says producer Orin Wolf. “It is also fitting that he will be seen opposite Chilina Kennedy whose world class talent is already known to Broadway fans all over the world. Seeing these two artists together promises to be one of the great theatrical events of the season. How exciting that this has been assembled exclusively for Broadway audiences nationwide who hunger for world class entertainment.”
The cast will also include Jennifer Apple as “Anna,” Mike Cefalo as “Telephone Guy,” Adam Gabay as “Papi,” Marc Ginsburg as “Sammy,” Kendal Hartse as “Iris,” Joe Joseph as “Haled,” Sara Kapner as “Julia,” Pomme Koch as “Itzik,” Ronnie Malley as “Camal,” James Rana as “Simon,” Or Schraiber as “Zelger,” and David Studwell as “Avrum,” along with Danny Burgos, Loren Lester, Nick Sacks, Hannah Shankman and Bligh Voth.
Mean Girls
Mary Kate Morrissey, a former Elphaba of the Wicked tour, has been cast as Janis Sarkisian in the upcoming national touring production of the Tony-nominated musical Mean Girls, based on Tina Fey’s hit 2004 film.
Morrissey’s credits include: Tamar of the River, Hair, Lizzie the Musical, Fun Home, Little Women and The Disappearing Man, A Folk Opera.
The musical, featuring a book by Fey and score by Jeff Richmond and Nell Benjamin, continues its run at the August Wilson Theatre, where it opened in April 2018.
The Mean Girls tour launches from Buffalo in September. Further casting for the Mean Girls tour will be announced soon.
To Kill A Mockingbird
As first reported in The Hollywood Reporter, Richard Thomas will step into the iconic role of the staunchly principled small-town Alabama lawyer when Aaron Sorkin’s blockbuster Broadway adaptation of the classic Harper Lee novel embarks on a two-year, coast-to-coast tour next summer.
Directed by Bartlett Sher, the production’s national road company will launch on August 25, 2020 at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., with additional cities, dates and casting to be announced. The tour is expected to hit virtually every state in the country. The Broadway production, which was recently nominated for nine Tony Awards, is currently playing at the Shubert Theatre.
Thomas made his Broadway debut at age seven in 1958’s Sunrise at Campobello and his television debut around the same time, beginning a professional acting career that has continued for more than 60 years. His role as “John-Boy” Walton, on the 1970s drama, The Waltons, earned him an Emmy Award. He has returned regularly to Broadway over the decades, most recently in a celebrated 2017 revival of Lillian Hellman’s The Little Foxes that earned him a Tony nomination for best featured actor in a play.