![Paper Mill Playhouse Announces Full Cast & Creative For "The Sting"](https://www.newjerseystage.com/events2018/HarryConnickJr.jpg "Paper Mill Playhouse Announces Full Cast & Creative For "The Sting"")
(MILLBURN, NJ) -- Paper Mill Playhouse has announced the cast and creative team of the world premiere production of the new musical The Sting, based on the 1973 film, and 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.” John Rando is set to direct with choreography by Warren Carlyle and music direction by Fred Lassen. The Broadway-bound engagement of The Sting begins performances on Thursday, March 29 for a limited engagement through Sunday, April 29.
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.
The principal cast will star Harry Connick, Jr. as Henry Gondorff, with Peter Benson as The Erie Kid, Janet Dacal as Loretta, Christopher Gurr as J.J. Singleton, J. Harrison Ghee as Johnny Hooker, Tom Hewitt as Doyle Lonnegan, Richard Kline as Kid Twist, Kevyn Morrow as Luther, Kate Shindle as Billie, and Robert Wuhl as Snyder.
Rounding out the cast are Lucien Barbarin, Darius Barnes, Keely Beirne, Michael Fatica, Luke Hawkins, Tyler Huckstep, Matt Loehr, Erica Mansfield, Drew McVety, Ramone Owens, Tyler Roberts, Angie Schworer, Christine Shepard,Britton Smith, Sherisse Springer, Diana Vaden, Kevin Worley and Lara Seibert Young.
The Sting will be performed eight times a week, Wednesday through Sunday. The performance schedule is Wednesday at 7:30pm; Thursday at 1:30pm and 7:30pm; Friday at 8:00pm; Saturday at 1:30pm and 8:00pm; and Sunday at 1:30pm and 7:00pm.
The production team includes set design by Beowulf Boritt, costume design by Paul Tazewell, lighting design by Japhy Weideman, sound design by Randy Hansen, hair and wig design by Charles G. LaPointe, make up design by Cookie Jordan, vocal arrangements by Fred Lassen, dance arrangements by David Chase, orchestrations by Doug Besterman, and fight coordinator Robert Westley. The production stage manager is Bonnie L. Becker. Casting is by Tara Rubin Casting, Tara Rubin, CSA.
“At J.P. Morgan we see the arts as valuable expressions of creative ideas, that have a real and lasting benefit to society,” said Deborah Kennedy, Managing Director, J.P. Morgan Private Bank. “We wish the cast, crew and all involved in the production of The Sting a fantastic first night and a wonderful run. We are eager to see the culmination of their hard work and inventive energy.”
Harry Connick, Jr. (Henry Gondorff/Music and Lyrics) a multiple Grammy and Emmy winner, began performing in his native New Orleans at age five. He has released 30 albums, highlighting his talents as pianist, singer, songwriter, composer, and orchestrator, garnering over 28 million sales. Connick received Tony nominations for his performance as Sid Sorokin in The Pajama Game and for his score to Thou Shalt Not (directed by Susan Stroman). He last performed on Broadway in On a Clear Day You Can See Forever, following the 2010 run of Harry Connick, Jr. in Concert on Broadway, which marked the 20th anniversary of his first sold-out concert series on Broadway. He has appeared in 19 films including Dolphin Tale with Morgan Freeman, Hope Floatswith Sandra Bullock, P.S. I Love You with Hilary Swank, Bug with Ashley Judd, and Copycat with Sigourney Weaver, and on television (American Idol, Will & Grace, South Pacific). In the fall of 2016, he launched Harry, a nationally syndicated daytime television show featuring his touring band, which earned five Daytime Emmy nominations in its first season, including best host, and a Critics’ Choice nomination for best talk show. Connick received the Jefferson Award for Public Service in recognition of his efforts to help New Orleans rebuild after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina.
Peter Benson (The Erie Kid). On Broadway, Mr. Benson has appeared in The Mystery of Edwin Drood; Harvey; Promises, Promises; To Be or Not to Be; Boeing-Boeing; The Pajama Game (with Harry Connick, Jr.—Outer Critics Circle nomination); Wonderful Town; Cabaret; Little Me; An American Daughter; and State Fair. He has appeared Off Broadway in Distracted (Roundabout), Birth and After Birth (Atlantic), The New Moon (City Center Encores!), The Country Club (Drama Dept.), Maddening Truth (Keen),Urban Dictionary Plays (twice at Ars Nova), and many others. Recent television guest stars include Louie, Horace and Pete, Banshee (season 4), Elementary, The Americans, Blue Bloods, and Blacklist.
Janet Dacal (Loretta) makes her Paper Mill Playhouse debut in The Sting. She most recently starred in Hal Prince’s Prince of Broadway, playing multiple roles including Evita, Aurora in Kiss of the Spider Woman, and Sydney in It’s a Bird…It’s a Plane…. She created the role of Alice in Frank Wildhorn’s Wonderland. She played the lead, Nina Rosario, in In the Heights after originating the role of Carla in the Off Broadway and Broadway productions, for which she received a Drama Desk Award. Additional favorite roles include Rosie in Bye Bye Birdie, Kathy in The Last Five Years, and Maria Merelli in Lend Me a Tenor.
J. Harrison Ghee (Johnny Hooker) is honored to be creating the role of Johnny Hooker in The Sting and to make his Paper Mill Playhouse debut. Broadway/International Tour: Kinky Boots (Lola/swing). Regional: The Color Purple (ensemble). Television: High Maintenance (“Globo,” Charles). Industrial: Tokyo DisneySea’s Big Band Beat, Norwegian Cruise Line. Proud graduate of AMDA (NY).
Christopher Gurr (J.J. Singleton) recently starred as Gus in the Trevor Nunn/Andy Blankenbuehler Broadway revival of Cats. Other Broadway credits: Tuck Everlasting, Kinky Boots, Amazing Grace, and All the Way with Bryan Cranston. First National Tours:Memphis, Spamalot. Regional: Copenhagen, 1776, Twelve Angry Men, My Fair Lady (Geva); The Who’s Tommy, Oklahoma! (Berkshire Theatre Festival); Getting the Band Back Together (George Street); The Lion in Winter (Indiana Rep); The Drowsy Chaperone (Human Race). TV: Madame Secretary. Thanks to
Tom Hewitt (Doyle Lonnegan). Paper Mill: Jane Eyre, Man of La Mancha. Broadway includes: Amazing Grace, Doctor Zhivago, Jesus Christ Superstar, Chicago, Dracula, The Boys from Syracuse, The Rocky Horror Show (Tony, Drama Desk nominations), The Lion King, School for Scandal, The Sisters Rosensweig. National Tours: Finding Neverland, Urinetown, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Peter Pan. Off Broadway: Another Medea, Treasure Island, Jeffery, Beau Jest (Outer Critics nomination). Recent regional credits:My Paris (Long Wharf), Irma Vep (BTG), Spamalot (PCLO, TUTS, Starlight), Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots (La Jolla Playhouse), Travesties (Long Wharf—Connecticut Critics Circle Award). Film/TV: Elementary, Law & Order, Julie Taymor’s Fool’s Fire.
Richard Kline (Kid Twist). Broadway: City of Angels, November. Regional: By Jeeves, Mizlansky/Zilinsky, And a Nightingale Sang, Spamalot, Sunshine Boys, Company, Titanic, Troilus and Cressida, Henry V, Chemin de Fer, Death of a Salesman, and others, at such theaters as the Kennedy Center, Geffen Playhouse, Penguin Rep, Intiman Theatre, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Westport Country Playhouse, Mint Theater, Goodspeed Opera, Folger Shakespeare Theatre. Tours: Wicked (The Wizard), Jake’s Women. Solo show: Boychik. Film: Don’t Think Twice, Liberty Heights, I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry. TV: The Americans, Blue Bloods, Three’s Company (Larry Dallas), and over 75 more including L.A. Law, NYPD Blue, St. Elsewhere, and Maude.
Kevyn Morrow (Luther). Broadway: The Color Purple (revival), Bandstand, The Scarlet Pimpernel, Dream, Smokey Joes Cafe, A Chorus Line (1990 closing company), Dreamgirls (revival), Leader of the Pack. West End: Ragtime (Olivier nomination), 125th Street. Off Broadway: While I Yet Live, Boys in the Band, Blue. Regional: First Wives Club (NAACP nomination), Driving Miss Daisy, The Lion in Winter, Radio Golf, Gem of the Ocean, Pajama Game, The Three Musketeers, Tambourine to Glory (Helen Hayes nomination). Film: Fair Market Value, The Trade, Stayin’ Alive. Television: Recurring: The Path, Elementary, Hope & Faith, Ed; Guest: Person of Interest, Good Wife, Hostages, Law & Order, Coach, Murphy Brown.
Kate Shindle (Billie) recently wrapped up the acclaimed first national tour of Fun Home (Alison). Proud Jersey girl excited to make her Paper Mill debut. Broadway: Legally Blonde (Vivienne), Cabaret (Sally Bowles), Wonderland (Hatter), Jekyll & Hyde. Other favorites: After the Fall (Maggie); Rapture, Blister, Burn (Catherine); Gypsy (Louise); Into the Woods (Witch); Sympathy Jones; The Last Five Years; First Lady Suite. TV/Film: Lucky Stiff (Dominique), Law & Order: SVU, White Collar, Gossip Girl, The Stepford Wives. Kate is currently president of both Actors’ Equity Association and Theatre Authority.
Robert Wuhl (Lt. Snyder) is a proud member of the Union (New Jersey) High School Hall of Fame. Movies: Batman; Bull Durham; Good Morning, Vietnam; The Bodyguard; Flashdance; Mistress; Hollywood Knights; Cobb; Good Burger; Open Season (also writer/director). He created and starred in the HBO series Arli$$ (CableACE nomination) and Assume the Position with Mr. Wuhl (Writers Guild Award nomination). Other TV: Tales from the Crypt (CableACE nomination), American Dad, Blue Bloods, Police Squad (writer), 60 Minutes Sports (contributor.) He received two Emmy Awards for writing the 63rd and 64th Academy Awards.
Bob Martin (Book) has been working as an actor and writer for over three decades. He has received many awards in both Canada and the US, including a Tony for The Drowsy Chaperone. Recent TV projects include Slings & Arrows, seasons 1, 2, and 3 (TMN, Sundance); Michael: Tuesdays and Thursdays (CBC); Michael: Every Day (CBC); Sensitive Skin, seasons 1 and 2 (HBO); and Elf: Buddy’s Musical Christmas (NBC). Recent theater projects include Encores! (NYC), The Prom (Atlanta), Gotta Dance(Chicago), Elf (Broadway, Dublin, London), The Drowsy Chaperone (Toronto, Broadway, London), Second City Toronto (performer, director, artistic director). In development: Millions, Half Time, The Princess Bride.
Mark Hollmann (Music & Lyrics) won the Tony Award, the National Broadway Theatre Award, and the Obie Award for his music and lyrics to Urinetown: The Musical. His other shows as composer/lyricist include Yeast Nation and Bigfoot and Other Lost Souls. He is a member of the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP), serves on the council of the Dramatists Guild of America, and has served on the Tony Nominating Committee.
Greg Kotis (Lyrics) is the author of many plays and musicals including Urinetown (book/lyrics, for which he won an Obie Award and two Tony Awards), Lunchtime, Give the People What They Want, Michael von Siebenburg Melts Through the Floorboards,Yeast Nation (book/lyrics), The Truth About Santa, Pig Farm, Eat the Taste, and Jobey and Katherine. Greg is a member of ASCAP and the Dramatists Guild and is a cofounder of Theater of the Apes.
John Rando (Director). Select Broadway: On the Town (Tony nomination), Penn & Teller on Broadway, A Christmas Story, The Wedding Singer, Urinetown (Tony, Outer Critics Circle Awards), A Thousand Clowns, The Dinner Party. Off Broadway: Jerry Springer: The Opera, Lives of the Saints, The Heir Apparent (SDCF Callaway Award), All in the Timing (Obie Award), The Toxic Avenger, among others. Recent regional: The Honeymooners (Paper Mill), Pirates of Penzance (Barrington), Big Sky (Geffen Playhouse). City Center Encores!: The New Yorkers, Annie Get Your Gun, Little Me, It’s a Bird…It’s a Plane…, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, On the Town, Damn Yankees, Strike Up the Band, The Pajama Game, Of Thee I Sing, and more. He also directedCarousel for the New York Philharmonic.
Warren Carlyle (Choreographer). Broadway: Directed and choreographed: After Midnight (Tony Award for Best Choreography), Chaplin, Hugh Jackman: Back on Broadway, Finian’s Rainbow (Tony nomination), A Tale of Two Cities. Choreography: Hello, Dolly!; She Loves Me; On the Twentieth Century; The Mystery of Edwin Drood; A Christmas Story, Follies. Directed and choreographed Radio City’s New York Spring Spectacular starring the Rockettes. TV/Film: Staged and choreographed the 68th and 69th Annual Tony Awards (CBS), multiple seasons of So You Think You Can Dance (Fox), Deception starring Hugh Jackman (20th Century Fox), Carousel (PBS) (Emmy nomination). Awards: Two Outer Critics Circle Awards, Drama Desk Award, Astaire Award.
Doug Besterman (Orchestrations). Three-time Tony Award winner. Broadway: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Anastasia, A Bronx Tale, It Shoulda Been You, Bullets Over Broadway (Tony nomination), Rocky, On a Clear Day…, Sister Act, How to Succeed… (Tony nomination), Elf, Young Frankenstein (Drama Desk nomination), Tarzan, Dracula, Thoroughly Modern Millie (2002 Tony and Drama Desk Awards), The Producers (2001 Tony and Drama Desk Awards), Seussical, The Music Man (Tony and Drama Desk nominations), Fosse (1999 Tony), Big (Drama Desk nomination), Damn Yankees (Drama Desk nomination). International: Guys and Dolls. Off Broadway: Carrie, Weird Romance. Regional: Little Dancer, Calvin Berger. Film/Television: Beauty and the Beast, Peter Pan Live!, The Sound of Music Live!, Frozen, Mulan, Chicago.
Fred Lassen (Music Director/Vocal Arrangements). Broadway: Prince of Broadway, Bandstand, Finding Neverland, Once, Porgy and Bess, South Pacific, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Spamalot, Cabaret, 42nd Street. Paper Mill: Animal Crackers, South Pacific, Peter Pan. Off Broadway/Regional: Threepenny Opera (Atlantic), Zorro (Alliance Theatre). Associate music supervisor for NBC’s live telecasts of The Sound of Music and Peter Pan. Helen Hayes Award nomination for outstanding musical direction of Ricky Ian Gordon’s Sycamore Trees (Signature, DC). International: 4 Stars (Tokyo/Osaka), Maury Yeston’s Peony Pavilion (Beijing), Cabaret (Folies Bergère, Paris). Arranged/produced Laura Osnes’s albums Dream a Little Dream: Live at the Café Carlyle and If I Tell You.
David Chase (Dance Arrangements) has been music directing, supervising, and arranging music on Broadway for over two decades. Currently running: dance music for Carousel, Frozen, Anastasia, and Hello, Dolly!. Also: many arrangements and orchestrations for the Boston Pops, Radio City, the Kennedy Center Honors, and TV’s Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. His choral arrangements are published by G. Schirmer. Two Emmy nominations for music direction and a Grammy nomination for producing.
Beowulf Boritt (Scenic Design). Paper Mill: The Honeymooners, A Bronx Tale. Broadway: Act One (Tony Award), The Scottsboro Boys (Tony nomination), Thérèse Raquin (Tony nomination), On the Town, Chaplin, Come from Away, Meteor Shower, Prince of Broadway, Sunday in the Park with George (2017), A Bronx Tale, Hand to God, Sondheim on Sondheim, …Spelling Bee, Lovemusik, Rock of Ages, Bronx Bombers, Grace, The Two and Only. Off Broadway: 100 shows including The Last Five Years, The Toxic Avenger, and Miss Julie. Work ranges from NYC Ballet to the Ringling Bros. Circus and internationally in England, Russia, China, Australia, and Japan. He received the 2007 Obie Award for Sustained Excellence in Set Design.
Paul Tazewell (Costume Design) designed the original Broadway production of the Pulitzer Prize– and Tony Award–winning Hamilton. Other Broadway: In the Heights; The Color Purple; Dr. Zhivago; Memphis; Caroline, or Change; Elaine Stritch at Liberty;Bring in ’da Noise, Bring in ’da Funk; Russell Simmons’ Def Poetry Jam; Lombardi; Magic/Bird. Broadway revivals: Side Show, A Streetcar Named Desire, Jesus Christ Superstar, Guys and Dolls, A Raisin in the Sun, On the Town. In 2016, Paul received a Tony Award for Hamilton and an Emmy Award for The Wiz Live! on NBC. He also designed The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks starring Oprah Winfrey for HBO Films and Jesus Christ Superstar Live! for NBC.
Japhy Weideman (Lighting Design). Broadway: Dear Evan Hansen, The Visit, The Nance, Of Mice and Men, Airline Highway, all Tony-nominated for best lighting design. Other Broadway: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Lobby Hero, Bright Star, Sylvia,Old Times, The Heidi Chronicles, Macbeth (Drama Desk nomination), Cyrano de Bergerac, The Snow Geese. Off Broadway: Lincoln Center Theater, Public Theater, NYTW, Second Stage, Playwrights Horizons, MTC, MCC, Labyrinth, Vineyard. West End: A Nice Fish, Blackbird. Opera: Bluebeard’s Castle/Il prigioniero (La Scala, Dutch National Opera); The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs, Don Giovanni, Life Is a Dream (Santa Fe Opera); The Manchurian Candidate, Doubt (Minnesota Opera); Don Giovanni (Lyon Opera).
Randy Hansen (Sound Design). Randy has designed sound for more than 150 musicals and 50 plays. Many memorable moments include working with the opera star Jessye Norman, the Indianapolis and Baltimore Symphony Orchestras, and the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Having recently opened a national tour of The Little Mermaid, Randy is thrilled to be back at Paper Mill for The Sting. In New York City he was the president of Audible Difference, Inc., a sound design company that over the past 30 years has served the fashion industry in New York and Paris.
Charles G. Lapointe (Hair & Wig Design). Prior Paper Mill Playhouse productions include Newsies, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, The Outsider, and 1776. Over 90 Broadway shows including Hamilton, Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, Anastasia, The Band’s Visit, SpongeBob SquarePants, Amélie, Motown, Memphis, Allegiance, A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder, The Color Purple, Doctor Zhivago, Of Mice and Men, Violet, Side Show, The Elephant Man, After Midnight, Clybourne Park, Newsies, Jekyll & Hyde, The Mountaintop, Superior Donuts, Bonnie and Clyde, and In the Heights. Television: The Wiz Live! (Emmy Award nomination), Blue Bloods, American Crime, Madoff, Hairspray.
Cookie Jordan (Makeup Design). Paper Mill: Lend Me a Tenor. Broadway: Once on This Island, Sunday in the Park…, In Transit, Eclipsed, Side Show, After Midnight, Fela!, A View from the Bridge, South Pacific, others. Off Broadway: Jesus Hopped the A Train, In the Blood, The Death of the Last Black Man… (Signature); Is God Is (Soho Rep); Kid Victory (Vineyard); A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Troilus and Cressida, Party People, The Total Bent (Public); He Brought Her Heart Back in a Box, Measure for Measure (TFANA). National Tours: Fela! (also Europe), Dirty Dancing, Flashdance. Regional: Hartford Stage, A.R.T., La Jolla, Goodspeed, Dallas Theater Center, McCarter, Berkeley Rep, Goodman. Emmy nomination for NBC’s The Wiz Live!.
Robert Westley (Fight Coordinator) choreographs movement for award-winning theater productions, acclaimed operas, and film, developing unique and exciting performances of dance, clowning, aerial acrobatics, puppetry, and martial art. Broadway: A Bronx Tale: The Musical (dir. Robert De Niro and Jerry Zaks), Hand to God. Off Broadway: Important Hats of the Twentieth Century (MTC), Verité (LCT3), Teenage Dick (Public). Paper Mill: The Honeymooners, A Bronx Tale.
Bonnie L. Becker (Production Stage Manager). Broadway: School of Rock, On the Town, The Velocity of Autumn, Let It Be, Nice Work If You Can Get It, Billy Elliot, Legally Blonde, Lestat, The Glass Menagerie, Bombay Dreams, Thoroughly Modern Millie,The Real Thing, The Scarlet Pimpernel, Victor/Victoria, The Best Little Whorehouse Goes Public, and Jelly’s Last Jam. At Paper Mill Playhouse: West Side Story; Rumors; Red, Hot and Blue.
Tara Rubin Casting (Casting). Previous Paper Mill: Bandstand, A Bronx Tale, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Can-Can, Les Misérables 25th Anniversary Tour. Selected Broadway: King Kong (upcoming), Summer (upcoming), Prince of Broadway, Indecent,Bandstand, Sunset Boulevard, Miss Saigon, Dear Evan Hansen, A Bronx Tale, Cats, Falsettos, Disaster!, School of Rock, Les Misérables, The Heiress, The Phantom of the Opera, Billy Elliot, Shrek, Spamalot, …Spelling Bee, The Producers, Mamma Mia!, Jersey Boys. Off Broadway: Jersey Boys; Here Lies Love; Old Jews Telling Jokes; Love, Loss, and What I Wore. Regional: Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Yale Repertory Theatre, La Jolla Playhouse, Old Globe, Asolo Rep.
Paper Mill Playhouse, led by Mark S. Hoebee-Producing Artistic Director, Todd Schmidt-Managing Director, was the recipient of the 2016 Regional Theatre Tony Award. The theatre is located at 22 Brookside Drive in Millburn, New Jersey.
