RODGERS & HAMMERSTEIN’S
“CAROUSEL”
WILL PLAY BROADWAY’S IMPERIAL THEATRE
BETSY WOLFE, ALEXANDER GEMIGNANI, AND MARGARET COLIN
JOIN CAST
ENSEMBLE MEMBERS ALSO ANNOUNCED
OPENING NIGHT SET FOR THURSDAY, APRIL 12, 2018
Producers Scott Rudin and Roy Furman announced today that Rodgers & Hammerstein’s classic musical Carousel, directed by three-time Tony Award® winner Jack O’Brien and choreographed by Justin Peck, will play the Imperial Theatre (249 West 45th Street) when it makes its return to Broadway next spring in one of the most deeply anticipated productions of the new season. Also announced are additional principal cast members Betsy Wolfe as Carrie Pipperidge, Alexander Gemignani as Enoch Snow, and Margaret Colin as Mrs. Mullin. Beginning preview performances on Wednesday, February 28, 2018, Carousel officially opens on Thursday, April 12. Tickets go on sale, via Telecharge.com, Saturday, September 9, at 10:00 AM (EST).
Ms. Wolfe, Mr. Gemignani, and Ms. Colin join the previously announced stars, Tony Award nominee Joshua Henry as Billy Bigelow, Tony Award winner Jessie Mueller as Julie Jordan, Renée Fleming, in her first-ever appearance in a Broadway musical as Nettie Fowler, as well as Amar Ramasar as Jigger, and Brittany Pollock as Louise.
The ensemble of Carousel features Colin Anderson, Yesenia Ayala, Nicholas Belton, Colin Bradbury, Andrei Chagas, Leigh-Ann Esty, Laura Feig, David Michael Garry, Garett Hawe, Rosena M. Hill Jackson, Amy Justman, Jess LeProtto, Skye Mattox, Adriana Pierce, David Prottas, Craig Salstein, Ahmad Simmons, Antoine L. Smith, Corey John Snide, Erica Spyres, Ryan Steele, Sam Strasfeld, Ricky Ubeda, Scarlett Walker, Jacob Keith Watson, and William Youmans. Additional cast members will be announced shortly.
The creative team of this new production of Carousel includes four-time Tony Award winner Santo Loquasto (Scenic Design), Tony and Academy Award winner Ann Roth (Costume Design), nine-time Tony Award winner Jules Fisher and three-time Tony Award winner Peggy Eisenhauer (Lighting Design), Tony Award winner Scott Lehrer (Sound Design), Tony, Grammy, Emmy, and Academy Award winner Jonathan Tunick (Orchestrations), and Andy Einhorn (Musical Supervision and Direction).
Set in a small New England factory town, Rodgers & Hammerstein’s timeless musical Carousel describes the tragic romance between a troubled carnival barker and the young woman who gives up everything for him. Elevated to an epic scale with a sweeping musical score that features some of the most beloved numbers in the American songbook, and incandescent ballet sequences, this story of passion, loss, and redemption introduced Broadway to a new manner of musical drama — one that “set the standard for the 20th-century musical” (Time Magazine) and would captivate theatergoers for generations to come.
Carousel played its world premiere on Broadway at the Majestic Theatre on April 19, 1945, and received unanimous raves. Brooks Atkinson in The New York Times called Carousel “nothing less than a masterpiece.” John Chapman of the Daily News proclaimed it “the finest musical play I have ever seen.”
In 1999, Time Magazine named Carousel the best musical of the century, saying that Rodgers & Hammerstein “set the standard for the 20th-century musical, and this show features their most beautiful score and the most skillful and affecting example of their musical storytelling.”
B I O G R A P H I E S
Betsy Wolfe (Carrie Pipperidge) currently stars as Jenna in the Broadway hit, Waitress. Her additional Broadway credits include Falsettos, Bullets Over Broadway, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Everyday Rapture, and 110 in the Shade. Off-Broadway, Ms. Wolfe starred in the acclaimed revival of The Last Five Years and appeared in the City Center Encores! production of Merrily We Roll Along. She originated the lead role in the musical Up Here (La Jolla Playhouse) and created the role of Mary Ann Singleton in the musical adaptation of Tales of the City (American Conservatory Theater). In 2013, Ms. Wolfe made her Metropolitan Opera debut as Ida in Die Fledermaus. She has headlined sold-out engagements for the Broadway Today concert series at both Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center, and on November 17, she returns to Carnegie Hall for a solo engagement with the New York Pops celebrating female composers and lyricists. Ms. Wolfe holds a BFA in Musical Theatre from Cincinnati Conservatory of Music (CCM).
Alexander Gemignani (Enoch Snow) currently plays King George III in the Chicago company of Hamilton. His Broadway credits include Violet, Chicago, Les Misérables (Drama League Award nomination), Sweeney Todd (Drama Desk Award nomination), Assassins (Theatre World Award), The People in The Picture, and Sunday in the Park with George. Off-Broadway, his credits include Road Show at The Public Theater (Drama League nomination), Headstrong (Ensemble Studio Theatre), and Avenue Q (Vineyard Theatre). Last summer, he appeared in the City Center Encores! revival of 1776. Mr. Gemignani has performed concerts with the New York Philharmonic (Avery Fisher Hall), the New York Pops (Carnegie Hall), the Los Angeles Philharmonic (Hollywood Bowl), and an engagement as part of Lincoln Center’s American Songbook series. Television and film credits include “Empire,” “Homeland,” “Chicago Fire,” “The Good Wife,” “Empire State,” and The Producers. As a composer and lyricist, he is developing four new musicals, and as a musical director, he is developing productions with The Public Theater and the Roundabout Theatre Company. He is a member of the BMI Workshop and a graduate of the University of Michigan. This fall, he begins his tenure as Artistic Director of the National Music Theater Conference at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre Center.
Margaret Colin (Mrs. Mullin) made her Broadway debut in Jackie: An American Life, for which she received a Theater World Award. Further Broadway credits include A Day in the Death of Joe Egg, Old Acquaintance, Arcadia, and The Columnist. Her Off-Broadway and regional theater credits include Aristocrats (Drama Desk Award nomination); Defiance (Drama Desk nomination); Hamlet (Shakespeare in the Park); Salome, Last Moons, Betrayal (The Actors Studio); City of Conversation (Arena Stage); and After the Dark (La MaMa). Ms. Colin’s film credits include Independence Day, Three Men and a Baby, True Believer, Time to Say Goodbye, Like Father Like Son, Unfaithful, First Daughter, Blue Car, The Missing Person, and Equity. She currently appears on television in “Veep” and “Shades of Blue.” Ms. Colin’s leading roles on television include “Gossip Girl,” “Now and Again,” “Leg Work,” “Foley Square,” “Sibs,” “Chicago Hope,” “As the World Turns,” and “Edge of Night.” Her guest appearances include “Law & Order,” “Law & Order: SVU,” “The Good Wife,” “Elementary,” “Blue Bloods,” “Nurse Jackie,” and “Madame Secretary.”