(MILLBURN, NJ) -- Paper Mill Playhouse will present a private reading of the new musical Bull Durham, previously announced to open the theater’s upcoming 2025-2026 season, on Friday, May 16, 2025 in New York City.

Bull Durham brings the classic 1988 film to the stage. Veteran catcher “Crash” Davis is tasked with mentoring hotshot rookie pitcher “Nuke” LaLoosh, while baseball muse Annie must choose her seasonal protégé. Directed by Marc Bruni (The Great Gatsby) and adapted by its original screenwriter/director, Ron Shelton, with music and lyrics by Susan Werner, this pitch-perfect musical delivers a winning blend of comedy, drama, and romance as passion, ambition, and America’s favorite pastime collide.

The production will be choreographed by Joshua Bergasse. Vadim Feichtner serves as music supervisor. The stage manager is Matthew Lacey and the casting director is Eric Woodall, CSA. The production is produced in association with LKB Productions.

​​​​​​​The cast for the reading includes Carmen Cusack (Annie Savoy), Nik Walker (Crash Davis), Melvin Abston (Larry), Ashlyn Maddox (Millie), James Moye (Skip), Andrew Poston (Jimmy), Will Savarese (Nuke LaLoosh), and Nick Wyman (Uncle Roy), with Tre’ Booker, Daniel DiPinto, Benny Elledge, Diana Huey, Sterling Nelson Jones, Brian Shimasaki Liebson, Jessi Little, Michael Olaribigbe, Carson Hampton Palmer, Valentina Shelton, Dori Waymer, Matt Wiercinski, Casey Wortham, and Blake Zelesnikar.

This reading is made possible by the Bye Family New Works Fund.

Subscriptions for Paper Mill’s 2025-2026 season including Bull Durham are on sale now at www.PaperMill.org, by calling (973) 376-4343, or at the Millburn box office. Tickets to individual shows will go on sale beginning August 4, 2025.

Paper Mill Playhouse, recipient of the Regional Theatre Tony Award, is a nationally renowned not-for-profit theater under the direction of Mark S. Hoebee (Producing Artistic Director) and Michael Stotts (Executive Director). A beloved New Jersey arts institution since 1938, Paper Mill creates and produces groundbreaking new musicals and reimagined classics.Several productions have gone on to Broadway and launched national tours, including The Great Gatsby, Disney’s Newsies, Bandstand, Honeymoon in Vegas, A Bronx Tale, and Les Misérables (25th Anniversary production).

The theater is also the home to an award-winning center for musical theater education and artist training, with outreach programs that impact thousands of students each year. As one of the nation’s premier musical theaters, Paper Mill fosters a creative environment to advance the art form, educate students, develop future theater lovers, nurture inclusion, and provide access for all.

Paper Mill Playhouse programs are made possible, in part, by funds from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, a partner agency of the National Endowment for the Arts. Paper Mill Playhouse is a member of the National Alliance for Musical Theatre, the Council of Stock Theatres, and the New Jersey Theatre Alliance.