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Paper Mill Playhouse Announce Cast For Ever After

originally published: 03/20/2015

(Millburn, NJ)  -- Paper Mill Playhouse (Mark S. Hoebee-Producing Artistic Director, Todd Schmidt-Managing Director) is proud to announce complete casting for the world-premiere musical Ever After, directed and choreographed by three-time Tony Award^® winner Kathleen Marshall (Anything Goes, Nice Work If You Can Get It), featuring a book and lyrics by Marcy Heisler and music by Zina Goldrich. 

Ever After will star two-time Tony Award^®-winner Christine Ebersole (Grey Gardens, 42^nd Street) as Baroness Rodmilla de Ghent, Tony Award^® nominee Tony Sheldon (Priscilla Queen of the Desert) as Leonardo da Vinci,  Emmy Award^® winner Charles Shaugnessy (Urinetown, “The Nanny”) as King Francis, James Synder (If/Then) as Prince Henry and Drama Desk Award nominee Margo Seibert (Rocky) as Danielle de Barbarac.

Ever After will also feature Tony Award^®-nominee Charl Brown (Motown The Musical), Mara Davi (The Drowsy Chaperone), Annie Funke (Hairspray), Julie Halston (You Can’t Take It With You), Andrew Keenan-Bolger (Newsies) and an ensemble including Jill Abramovitz, Ashley Blanchet, Nick Corley, Stephanie Elise Gandolfo, Gregg Goodbrod, John Hillner, Sean Martin Hingston, Gwen Hollander, Fred Inkley, Will Mann, Liz McCartney, Alison Morooney, Kevin Munhall, Kevin Michael Raponey, Rachael Scarr, Justin Schuman, Jonathan Shew and Aléna Watters.

Paper Mill Playhouse presents the world premiere of a new musical based on the 1998 film starring Drew Barrymore and Anjelica Huston.  This is no fairy tale.  Ever After sets the record straight on the fable of Cinderella. Her name was Danielle and it was always about her wit, her smarts, her strength and her good friend Leonardo da Vinci.  She makes her own dreams come true. Warm and romantic, funny and smart, this is the musical you’ve been waiting for.

“We’re thrilled to present the world premiere of this beautiful musical,” commented Mark S. Hoebee, Producing Artistic Director for the Millburn theater. “I am delighted to showcase a new musical with strong, female leads, created by strong, female artists including Kathleen Marshall, Marcy Heisler and Zina Goldrich.”

 

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The award-winning design team of Broadway veterans will feature Derek McLane (scenic design), Jess Goldstein (costume design), Peter Kaczorowski (lighting design), Nevin Steinberg (sound design), Mary-Mitchell Campbell (music supervision), David Gardos (music direction), Leah Loukas (hair and wig design), Rick Sordelet (fight direction) and casting by Telsey + Company.

Ever After begins performances Thursday, May 21, 2015, and runs through Sunday, June 21, 2015. 

Ever After is sponsored by J.P. Morgan. Paper Mill Playhouse's 2014-2015 Season is proudly sponsored by Investors Bank.

Ever After will be performed at Paper Mill Playhouse eight times a week, Wednesday through Sunday. Performance schedule: Wednesday at 7:00pm, Thursday at 1:30pm and 7:00pm, Friday at 7:00pm, Saturday at 1:30pm and 7:00pm and Sunday at 1:30pm and 7:00pm. Tickets are on sale now and range from $28 to $99. Tickets may be purchased by calling 973.376.4343, at the Paper Mill Playhouse Box Office at 22 Brookside Drive in Millburn, or online at www.PaperMill.org. Visa, MasterCard, Discover, and American Express accepted. Groups of 10 or more can receive up to a 40% discount on tickets and should call 973.315.1680.  College students can order $20 rush tickets over the phone or in person at the Paper Mill Playhouse Box Office on the day of the performance.

 

BIOGRAPHIES

Christine Ebersole (Baroness Rodmilla de Ghent), a Maplewood, NJ, resident and two-time Tony Award^®-winning actress, has captivated audiences on the Broadway stage, television series and specials, films, concert appearances and recordings.  Ms. Ebersole is a Paper Mill Playhouse favorite who starred in several Paper Mill shows including Mame, Paper Moon and Shenandoah.

One of her first jobs was as an understudy in the Broadway musical On the Twentieth Century, followed by her turn as Ado Annie in Oklahoma! From there it was on to Ryan’s Hope, One Life to Live and Saturday Night Live before landing the high-profile role of Guinevere opposite Richard Burton in Camelot.

Ms. Ebersole then shifted her focus from stage to screen and soon headed to Hollywood, appearing in many hit movies, including Amadeus, Tootsie and Richie Rich. She added an extensive list of television credits as well, including The Cavanaughs, Valerie and the title role in Rachel Gunn, R.N.

Her ensuing New York stage performances include her Tony Award^®-winning performance as Dorothy Brock in the smash hit revival of 42nd Street, Steel Magnolias, The Best Man, and Dinner at Eight, for which she received both Tony and Outer Critics Circle nominations.

Ms. Ebersole received virtually every Off-Broadway award and her second Tony Award^® for Leading Actress in a Musical for her dual role as Edith Bouvier Beale and “Little Edie” Beale in Grey Gardens. Acclaimed by critics and audiences alike, the show was nominated for ten Tony Awards, including Best Musical, and its CD was nominated for a Grammy Award.

Ms. Ebersole’s career continued to arc with her starring role in Blithe Spirit on Broadway with Angela Lansbury and her many guest appearances on innumerable popular television series, including her recurring role as Ms. “New Parts” Newberg in the hit cable show Royal Pains. Ms. Ebersole continues to appear in numerous concert halls and cabaret venues throughout the country, including performances in City Center Encores!, at Carnegie Hall, Tanglewood, the Kennedy Center, Boston Symphony Hall, Feinstein’s and Café Carlyle.

 

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Margo Seibert (Danielle de Barbarac) is, according to USA Today, “a Broadway newcomer with a delicately compelling presence and a throbbing, textured singing voice that lets us hear the character coming out of her shell.”  Last season, she made her debut on the Great White Way singing the music of Ahrens & Flaherty as Adrian in Rocky, as well as giving a tour-de-force (and Drama Desk-nominated) performance in the original musical Tamar of the River.  Across the board, she has been recognized for her depth of character and nuanced vocal performance.

 

James Snyder (Prince Henry) has been seen on stage and screen, notably in Broadway’s If/Then and Cry-Baby, for which he received a Drama League Award nomination. His additional theater credits include Johnny Baseball at Williamstown Theatre Festival, Fanny at New York City Center, Broadway: Three Generations at The Kennedy Center, Rock of Ages (Los Angeles, Las Vegas), Oedipus the King, Mama (Troubadour Theater Co.), Happy Days, The Fantasticks (Sacramento Music Circus), Hamlet, Sneaux, Oklahoma! and Star Wars Trilogy in 30 Minutes. On television, he has appeared in Blue Bloods, Drop Dead Diva, CSI, Without a Trace, Cold Case, Gilmore Girls, and The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, among others. Mr. Snyder’s film credits include She’s the Man, An American in China, Anderson’s Cross, Shuttle and Pretty Persuasion (Sundance Film Festival).

 

Charl Brown (Captain Laurent) received a 2013 Tony Award^® nomination for best performance by a featured actor in a musical for his performance as Smokey Robinson in Motown. Brown was also seen in the Broadway companies of Jersey Boys and Sister Act.

 

Mara Davi (Marguerite de Ghent) appeared in the Broadway productions of The Drowsy Chaperone, A Chorus Line and Irving Berlin’s White Christmas. In addition to playing Dana on The Good Wife, Ms. Davi had recurring roles on Smash and Blue Bloods.

 

Annie Funke (Jacqueline de Ghent) was seen on Broadway in Hairspray and off-Broadway in Silence! The Musical. Ms. Funke has worked at regional theaters around the country including The Kennedy Center, Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma, Stages St. Louis and Music Theatre Wichita.

 

Julie Halston (Queen Marie) was recently seen on Broadway in You Can’t Take It With You. Ms. Halston’s other Broadway credits include Anything Goes, Hairspray, Twentieth Century, Gypsy, The Women and The Man Who Came to Dinner. Ms. Halston was a guest star on Law & Order and had recurring roles on Sex and the City and All My Children.

 

Andrew Keenan-Bolger (Gustave) returns to Paper Mill Playhouse, where he previously appeared as Crutchie in Newsies. Mr. Keenan-Bolger’s Broadway credits include Newsies, Mary Poppins, Seussical, Beauty and the Beast and A Christmas Carol. As a filmmaker, Andrew is co-creator of the web series Submissions Only, now in its third season.

 

Charles Shaughnessy (King Francis) was seen on Broadway in Urinetown. Mr. Shaughnessy starred in the successful CBS show The Nanny opposite Fran Drescher for six years. Mr. Shaughnessy’s other television credits include Castle, Days of Our Lives, CSI: NY, Mad Men, Law & Order, Hot in Cleveland and more. He appeared in the feature film Denial with Jason Alexander and Patrick Dempsey, Second Chances, The Painting, and Kids in America as well as several TV Movies.

 

Tony Sheldon (Leonardo da Vinci) was nominated for a Tony Award^® and won the 2011 Theatre World award for his performance as Bernadette in Priscilla Queen of the Desert. He also played the role in Australia, New Zealand, England and Canada. Mr. Sheldon has appeared in many Australian productions including Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, The Producers, Into the Woods, The Glass Menagerie and more.

Zina Goldrich (Composer), along with lyricist Marcy Heisler, is the 2009 winner of the Fred Ebb Award for Musical Theatre Songwriting. Last season, Ms. Goldrich earned a Drama Desk Nomination for Best Music for her work on the DR2 Theatre production of Dear Edwina.  She also composed the score for Junie B. Jones, which completed three successful off-Broadway runs for Theatreworks USA and was twice nominated for the Lucille Lortel Award. Other scores include Allison Under the Stars and Adventures in Love. She has composed for Johnny and the Sprites and Pooh’s Learning Adventures, and she was a staff songwriter for Walt Disney Feature Animation. Ms. Goldrich studied under Jerry Goldsmith in the USC Scoring for Motion Picture and Television program. She is the recipient of ASCAP’s Richard Rodgers New Horizons Award, the Seldes-Kanin Fellowship, a Jonathan Larson grant and numerous scholarships. On Broadway she played keyboards for Avenue Q, Bombay Dreams, Oklahoma and Titanic, where she also conducted. Currently, Zina Goldrich is scoring episodes of Wonderpets for Nickelodeon and Third and Bird for the BBC.

Marcy Heisler (Book and Lyrics) is co-recipient, with composer Zina Goldrich, of the 2009 Fred Ebb Award for Musical Theatre Songwriting.  She earned a 2009 Drama Desk nomination for Outstanding Lyrics for Dear Edwina and a Lucille Lortel Award nomination for Junie B. Jones, Other collaborations with Zina Goldrich include Adventures in Love, Allison Under the Stars, and The Marcy and Zina Show, which tours throughout the U.S. and Canada.  As a lyricist, Ms. Heisler has contributed songs for many Disney projects, including Johnny and the Sprites, Pooh’s Learning Adventures, and The D Show. As an adaptor, she wrote new versions of 101 Dalmatians, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty and The Jungle Book for Disney Theatricals, and she collaborated with composer Michael Picton on songs for Ringling Bros. & Barnum and Bailey Circus 137^th Edition. Ms. Heisler has collaborated with composer Zina Goldrich since 1993, and they are past recipients of ASCAP's Richard Rodgers New Horizons Award and the Seldes-Kanin Fellowship.  

 

Kathleen Marshall (Director and Choreographer) has received three Tony Awards^® (out of nine nominations), three Drama Desk Awards, three Outer Critics Circle Awards, the Astaire Award, the George Abbott Award, the Richard Rodgers Award, the Pennsylvania Governor’s Award for the Arts and was named a Distinguished Daughter of Pennsylvania.

 

Ms. Marshall directed and choreographed the Broadway productions of Nice Work If You Can Get It, Anything Goes, Grease, The Pajama Game and Wonderful Town. She choreographed the Broadway productions of Boeing- Boeing, Little Shop of Horrors, Follies, Seussical, Kiss Me, Kate, Ring Round the Moon, 1776 and Swinging on a Star, as well as the West End revival of Kiss Me, Kate.  She served as assistant choreographer to her brother, Rob Marshall, on the Broadway productions of Kiss of the Spider Woman, She Loves Me and Damn Yankees. 

 

Ms. Marshall is an Artistic Associate of City Center Encores!, where she was the Artistic Director for four seasons.  For Encores!, she directed and choreographed I’m Getting My Act Together . . . , Bells Are Ringing, Applause, 70 Girls 70, House of Flowers, Carnival, Hair, Wonderful Town and Babes in Arms. 

 

For the New York Shakespeare Festival, she directed and choreographed Two Gentleman of Verona, and for Second Stage Theatre, she directed and choreographed Saturday Night, the New York premiere of Stephen Sondheim's first musical. 

 

For ABC/Disney, she directed and choreographed Once Upon a Mattress, starring Tracey Ullman and Carol Burnett, and choreographed The Music Man, starring Matthew Broderick (Emmy nomination). She also choreographed the musical sequences in the film My Week With Marilyn. 

 

She recently directed Joe DiPietro’s Living on Love at the Williamstown Theatre Festival starring Renée Fleming, which is opening on Broadway this spring. Ms. Marshall is an Associate Artist of the Roundabout Theatre Company. 

 

Mary-Mitchell Campbell (Music Supervisor) won the 2007 Drama Desk Award for outstanding orchestrations for her work on Company. On Broadway Ms. Campbell also served as musical director for The Addams Family, Big Fish and Finding Neverland.

 

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David Gardos (Music Director) recently served as the assistant conductor for the Side Show revival on Broadway as well as the associate conductor for Chaplin. 

 

Rick Sordelet (Fight Director) has worked on more than 40 Broadway productions, including Disney’s The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, Tarzan, The Little Mermaid, and Aida. He has staged the fights for the opera Cyrano de Bergerac starring Placido Domingo at the Metropolitan Opera, The Royal Opera House, and the LaScala in Milan, Italy. 

 

Derek McLane (Scenic Design) has designed sets for many Broadway shows including Beautiful, Nice Work If You Can Get It, Follies, Anything Goes, The Pajama Game and more. Mr. McLane won the 2009 Tony Award^® for best scenic design of a play for 33 Variations.

 

Jess Goldstein (Costume Design) returns to Paper Mill Playhouse after designing costumes for Newsies and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. Mr. Goldstein won the 2005 Tony Award for best costume design of a play for his work on The Rivals. On Broadway Mr. Goldstein has also designed costumes for On the Town, Newsies, Jersey Boys, Glengarry Glen Ross and more.

 

Peter Kaczorowski (Lighting Design) won the 2001 Tony Award for best lighting design for his work on The Producers. Mr. Kaczorowski served as lighting designer for many Broadway shows including Love Letters, Beautiful, Anything Goes, Young Frankenstein and more.

 

Nevin Steinberg (Sound Design) received a 2013 Tony Award nomination for his sound design of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella. Mr. Steinberg’s other Broadway credits include It Shoulda Been You, Mothers and Sons, Hair, Ragtime, Legally Blonde and more.

 

Leah Loukas (Hair & Wig Design) worked on the Broadway productions of On the Town, A Night with Janis Joplin, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, American Idiot and Irena’s Vow. At Paper Mill Playhouse Loukas designed Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, Elf, Grease, The Sound of Music, The Little Mermaid, Oliver! and South Pacific.

Telsey + Company (Casting) is an award-winning organization of casting professionals in New York City with local, regional, national and international clientele including Broadway and touring companies of If/Then, The King and I, Motown, Kinky Boots, Finding Neverland, Honeymoon in Vegas, Rock of Ages and Wicked. The lead casting director on this project is Craig Burns, CSA.

The Production Stage Manager is Kim Vernace.