(MILLBURN, NJ) -- Paper Mill Playhouse has announced that Harry Connick, Jr. will star as Henry Gondorff in the world-premiere production of The Sting. The musical is based on the 1973 film, and will have its world premiere at Paper Mill Playhouse for a limited run from March 29 through April 29, 2018, with book by Bob Martin, music and lyrics by Mark Hollmann & Greg Kotis with Harry Connick, Jr. In addition, the score will contain music by Scott Joplin including “The Entertainer.”
It's Chicago. 1936. Get ready to enter a smoke-filled world of cons and capers, where nothing is what it seems and no one is who they appear to be. Based on the 1973 Academy Award-winning film, The Sting tells the tale of a pair of con men, small town grifter Johnny Hooker and big-time hustler Henry Gondorff (Harry Connick, Jr.), who plot to bring down the city’s most corrupt racketeer. The Sting takes you back to an era where jazz reigns, the stakes are high, and the dice are always loaded.
Choreographed by Warren Carlyle and directed by John Rando, the Broadway-bound engagement of The Sting will have further casting and creative team members announced in the near future.
Harry Connick, Jr. made his Broadway acting debut in The Pajama Game in 2006 earning a Tony Award nomination for Best Actor in a Musical, followed in 2011 by On A Clear Day You Can See Forever. In addition, Mr. Connick has performed extended concert engagements on Broadway and wrote the music and lyrics for the musical Thou Shalt Not, which earned him a Tony Award nomination for Best Original Score.
The Tony Award-winning creative team for The Sting includes director John Rando (On the Town), choreographer Warren Carlyle (Hello, Dolly!), book writer Bob Martin (The Drowsy Chaperone), and an original score by composer/lyricist team Mark Hollmann & Greg Kotis (Urinetown) with Tony Nominee Harry Connick, Jr. (Thou Shalt Not).
The Sting will be produced on Broadway by The Araca Group, Matthew Gross Entertainment, and by Special Arrangement with Universal Theatrical Group.
The Paper Mill Playhouse production of The Sting is sponsored by JPMorgan Chase & Co., and the 2017-2018 Season is sponsored by Investors Bank.
PAPER MILL PLAYHOUSE, a not-for-profit theater under the direction of Mark S. Hoebee (Producing Artistic Director) and Todd Schmidt (Managing Director) and recipient of the 2016 Regional Theatre Tony Award, is where American musical theater is celebrated, cherished, and pushed in exciting new directions. A beloved New Jersey arts institution since 1938, Paper Mill has been consistently recognized for the high-quality artistry of its reimagined classic musicals as well as its commitment to supporting the development of new works and the careers of Broadway’s best talent and emerging artists both onstage and behind the scenes. Paper Mill Playhouse boasts award-winning access services and outreach initiatives as well as performer training programs that impact more than 35,000 students each year. Paper Mill Playhouse productions have launched national tours and gone on to Broadway—including Disney’s Newsies, 25thAnniversary production of Les Misérables, Honeymoon in Vegas, A Bronx Tale, Bandstand, The Bodyguard—as well as television broadcasts on Showtime and PBS and original cast recordings. Paper Mill Playhouse is a member of the National Alliance for Musical Theatre, the Council of Stock Theatres, and the New Jersey Theatre Alliance.
Paper Mill Playhouse is located at 22 Brookside Drive in Millburn, New Jersey.