This was the official website for the 2011 revival of On A Clear Day You Can See Forever, starring Harry Connick, Jr.
Content is from the site's 2011 archived content as well as from other outside sources.
Broadway Spotlight On: 'On a Clear Day You Can See Forever' with Harry Connick Jr.
- On a clear day, how it will astound you That the glow of your feelings outshines every star You feel part of every mountain, sea and shore You can hear from far and near a world you've never heard before.
- On a Clear Day I Cant See My Sister “This is every effigist's worst nightmare!” Jimbo Jones, upon seeing the real Lisa Simpson as they are about to torch her model 'On a Clear Day I Can't See My Sister' is the eleventh episode of Season 16. 1 Synopsis 2 Full Story 3 Reception 4 Citations Lisa becomes fed up with Bart's teasing and takes out a restraining order against him, while Homer.
Synopsis
AN IMPOSSIBLE LOVE.
AN IRRESISTIBLE MUSICAL.
Dec 11, 2011 This was the official website for the 2011 revival of On A Clear Day You Can See Forever, starring Harry Connick, Jr. Content is from the site's 2011 archived content as well as from other outside sources. 'On a Clear Day (You Can See Forever)' is a song written by Burton Lane (music) and Alan Jay Lerner (lyrics) for the 1965 musical On a Clear Day You Can See Forever. It was subsequently performed by American actress and vocalist Barbra Streisand in the 1970 film adaptation of the musical.
Three-time Grammy® Award winner, two-time Emmy® Award winner and Tony Award® nominee Harry Connick, Jr. starred as plays Dr. Mark Bruckner, a down-to-earth psychiatrist who unknowingly takes on the case of his life with David Gamble, a quirky young florist's assistant. While putting David under hypnosis to help him quit smoking so he can move in with his perfect boyfriend, Warren, Dr. Bruckner stumbles upon what he believes to be David’s former self—a dazzling and self-possessed 1940s jazz singer Melinda Wells. Dr. Bruckner finds himself suddenly swept off his feet by this beautiful woman—and swept into a world he never dreamed possible.
This newly imagined Burton Lane/Alan Jay Lerner musical was directed by Tony Award® winner Michael Mayer, who teamed with acclaimed writer Peter Parnell to bring an entrancing, new story to one of Broadway's most beautiful scores, which includes 'Come Back to Me,' 'Too Late Now' and, of course, 'On A Clear Day You Can See Forever,' all performed by a full 19-piece orchestra.
Filled with delightful surprises, a remarkable cast and the kind of hope only true love can bring, ON A CLEAR DAY is ready to open eyes—and hearts—all over Broadway.
ON A CLEAR DAY YOU CAN SEE FOREVER PLAYED ITS FINAL BROADWAY PERFORMANCE ON JANUARY 29, 2012.
Reincarnation All Over Again
DEC. 11, 2011
By BEN BRANTLEY | www.nytimes.com
Toward the long-awaited end of the new semirevival of “On a Clear Day You Can See Forever,” which opened on Sunday at the St. James Theater, an eminent psychiatrist proposes that what we have been watching was perhaps only “my own psychoneurotic fantasy.”
Now, I don’t have a medical degree, but might I propose an alternate diagnosis? It seems to me, Doc, that you and your show have been suffering instead from a case of clinical depression that you’ve never been able to get over, no matter how hard you’ve tried. And, believe me, I know how you’ve tried. I have felt the pain of your efforts.
Where the heck is Zoloft (and Prozac and Abilify) when you need the little suckers? This wholesale reconception of a fluffy, muddled 1965 musical about reincarnation appears to have given everyone who appears in it — including its charismatic star, Harry Connick Jr. — a moaning case of the deep-dyed blues. Though done up to resemble a psychedelic fun house (the sanitized, perky kind that brings to mind middle-of-the-road rock album covers from the late 1960s and early ’70s), this “Clear Day” still has the approximate fun quotient of a day in an M.R.I. machine.
There’s no doubt that the original “Clear Day,” which features a perfectly lovely score by Burton Lane (music) and Alan Jay Lerner (lyrics), required some serious tinkering if it was going to fly on Broadway in 2011. Though this tale of reincarnation and a love that crossed generations starred the peerless Barbara Harris, as a psychically gifted young woman with a past life just waiting to leap out of her, it was generally agreed that the 1965 production was overdressed, overplotted and more or less out of its mind.
So the director Michael Mayer, who had always had an understandable soft spot for the show’s music, decided to enlist the playwright Peter Parnell to see if “Clear Day” might be clarified. The focus was shifted from the beguiling Daisy (Ms. Harris’s part) to Dr. Mark Bruckner (Mr. Connick), the psychiatrist who stepped over a whole lot of professional lines in treating her.
On a Clear Day You Can See Forever Harry Connick Jr., left, Jessie Mueller and David Turner in this musical at the St. James Theater.
CreditSara Krulwich/The New York Times
Mark, in this version, is a widower of five years who has never gotten over his wife’s death. As in the earlier “Clear Day” Mark still accidentally winds up treating an unexceptional-seeming patient who, under hypnosis, delivers a full-blown previous incarnation from years earlier. And that inner soul happens to be just the sort of woman Mark’s been waiting for. The big difference is that Daisy is now David, a gay florist with commitment issues.
Well, that’s the first big difference, anyway. Daisy/David’s alter-ego, Melinda, is no longer a love-crossed English beauty from the 18th century but a feisty big-band singer from the early 1940s in search of a professional break. This transformation was even more troublesome to the “Clear Day” team than Daisy’s sex change, since it meant coming up with songs that were more Benny Goodman than Thomas Arne. (To do so, the creators raided the Lerner and Lane score for the 1951 film “Royal Wedding” and a few numbers from the unfondly remembered 1970 “Clear Day” film starring Barbra Streisand.)
Finally, and most unfortunately, it was decided that Mark’s prize patient would be played by two people instead of one. While I didn’t see Ms. Harris in the original “Clear Day,” I was lucky enough to catch Kristin Chenoweth in the same role in an Encores! concert version. And that show’s greatest (if not only) pleasures came from watching her melt from one character into another, with a posture, an accent and a singing style to match.
Anyway, now we have David Turner as David, and Jessie Mueller as Melinda. And while they perform a couple of fleeting pas de trois with the doctor in the hypnosis scenes, mostly they stay out of each other’s way. Once Melinda takes over David, she becomes a sort of human time machine who allows the doc to hang out with her in jazzy old Manhattan of yore.
Never mind trying to figure out the logic of all this. Reincarnation, I’m sure, has its own transcendent laws. But you can’t avoid the casualties of this approach. The most conspicuous is the muffling of Mr. Turner, an actor of wit and charm, who is here required to be witless and charmless.
Ms. Mueller, who has a fetching affinity for swing-era song stylings, comes off better. (Her version of “Ev’ry Night at Seven,” an interpolation from “Royal Wedding,” is the show’s high point.) But in reshaping Melinda as a concept, someone forgot to make her a character as well. And concepts, as opposed to characters, don’t generate chemistry with their leading men.
David Turner, in jacket, and Drew Gehling, with tie, in the revamped version of “On a Clear Day You Can See Forever,” directed by Michael Mayer.
CreditSara Krulwich/The New York Times
And of course there’s that whole 1970s aesthetic. Christine Jones’s sets and Catherine Zuber’s costumes are meant, I presume, to pulse with kinetic visual playfulness. They are filled with mixed Op Art designs and bright (my eyes, my eyes!) shades of orange, pink and green.
But there was never a less flattering decade in fashion than the early 1970s. And I couldn’t help feeling that members of the talented supporting cast — who include Kerry O’Malley (as Mark’s loyal and adoring colleague), Sarah Stiles (as David’s roommate) and Drew Gehling (very good as David’s boyfriend) — wished they were somewhere else, in more attractive costumes, doing less spasmodic dances (choreographed by Joann M. Hunter).
A warning: All those elaborately mixed patterns of circles and squares can affect your vision. I found myself seeing double at the show’s beginning, until my eyes had adjusted. What a relief when things fell into normal focus again. One “Clear Day” at a time is more — much more — than enough.
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An aside: I was excited to see the revival of On a Clear Day You Can See Forever. It features a perfectly lovely score by Burton Lane (music) and Alan Jay Lerner (lyrics). A friend of mine, Jackman, was able to snag a couple of center orchestra seats for the opening of the show, don't even ask how. But there we were that evening. Jackman is the type of person who is always dressed immaculately with the latest fashions, always wearing the most chic mens rimless eyeglasses, and always wearing cowboy boots. For some reason this look simply works. It seems effortless, but I am sure it is very calculated to look effortless. I do know, however where he buys his trendy eyeglasses- at Eyeglasses.com. I was able to pry that bit of information out of him one day when I dropped my prescription eyeglass and badly scratched them. He revealed the Eyeglasses.com website as THE place to order replacement lens. Fast, convenient and easy once you know how to do it.
We settled down for the show. Unfortunately the New York Times review of the show says it all: Where the heck is Zoloft (and Prozac and Abilify) when you need the little suckers? This wholesale re-conception of a fluffy, muddled 1965 musical about reincarnation appears to have given everyone who appears in it — including its charismatic star, Harry Connick Jr. — a moaning case of the deep-dyed blues. Though done up to resemble a psychedelic fun house (the sanitized, perky kind that brings to mind middle-of-the-road rock album covers from the late 1960s and early ’70s), this “Clear Day” still has the approximate fun quotient of a day in an M.R.I. machine....
Mr. Connick, who was a splendid matinee-idol-style star ...has the look of a man just out of grueling dental surgery, who is both in pain and still semi-anesthetized.
We staggered out of the theater, most profoundly disappointed. And lordy, why that whole 1970s aesthetic? For some reason the director set the show in 1974 instead of 1965. At the beginning the elaborately mixed patterns of circles and squares affected our vision. I found myself seeing double at the show’s beginning, until my eyes had adjusted. Yes, indeed, where the hell were the Zoloft, Prozac and Abilify when you needed them?
~~~
On A Clear Day You Can See Forever: Don't Tamper With Their Musical
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Posted by: Michael Dale | www.broadwayworld.com/
Hang around the theatre long enough and you grow accustomed to hearing the word 'problematic' applied primarily to two things: a Shakespeare play that's not one of his better efforts or the book of a musical that's rarely revived, despite an excellent score.
Since opening in 1965 as Alan Jay Lerner's first musical after the retirement of his long-time partner, Frederick Loewe, On A Clear Day You Can See Forever's book has been unfairly slapped with the label 'problematic.' Lerner's original story of a psychoanalyst who falls in love with a woman who exists in the subconscious of his hypnotized patient has been nicknamed the musical about ESP he wrote while on LSD.
I beg to differ. Look at Lerner's previous classics. Is a musical about a possible reincarnation any less believable than one about a Scottish town that disappears every hundred years? Or one about two men who spend weeks living together playing dress-up with a pretty young girl without at least one of them coming out of the closet?
On A Clear Day Lyrics
And compared with what's currently on Broadway? Please, for craft, intelligence and imagination I'll take the original book of Clear Day over the books of Sister Act, Mamma Mia, The Book of Mormon and most of the current crop. It may not be a great show, but in the world it creates the story makes perfect sense and a good production can give you a swell night out.
But the dollars and cents truth is that, despite a gorgeous score that has Lerner's typically upscale lyrics matched with Burton Lane's typically entrancing melodies, the show is rarely performed nowadays. So when a director with the track record of Michael Mayer says he has an idea about reconceiving the show, the people who own the rights listen. And when a star with the drawing power of Harry Connick, Jr. shows interest, plans for a limited Off-Broadway engagement are scrapped in favor of an open-ended Broadway run.
The supposedly unrevivable chamber musical of 1965 involved Mark Bruckner, a doctor and college professor seriously immersed in the study of hypnosis, who is approached by goofy young Daisy Gamble, who, trying to conform to the wishes of her conservative fiancé, asks to be hypnotized into quitting smoking. While under the doctor's spell, Daisy begins speaking in the cultured British tones of Melinda Wells, a privileged 18th Century lady whose wit and elegance fascinates Mark as a doctor and seduces him as a man. His suspicion that Daisy may be faking it is countered by the fact that, before being put under, she was able to read his mind, sense where a lost book was located and hear a phone before it rang. Not knowing of the past life she's been revealing, Daisy misinterprets Mark's interest in her to be romantic, coming from a man who, unlike her intended, seems perfectly willing to accept her as she is.
The nearly completely new book by Peter Parnell is set in post-Stonewall 1974, shortly after the American Psychiatric Association discontinued its classification of homosexuality as a mental disorder. Dr. Mark Bruckner (Connick) now narrates the show as a presentation about a recent case for the benefit of an audience of his colleagues. His topic is still hypnotism but now the patient who wants to quit smoking is a gay florist named David Gamble (David Turner), who wants to please his perfectly loving, commitment-minded boyfriend, Warren (Drew Gehling). While under, David still turns into Melinda Wells, but now she's a 1940s jazz singer, played by Jessie Mueller, who captivates the doctor with her sensational vocals.
This new approach proves to be... what's the word...? Problematic. Aside from taking away the opportunity for the audience to enjoy watching a talented actress transform herself from the hyper-neurotic Daisy to the cool and sensual Melinda (The general consensus is that Barbara Harris was a sensation in the role.), the double casting and the choice to make Melinda a singer make the plot less believable.
Parnell has Mark entranced by Melinda's singing voice, and though Mueller does supply the evening with its musical highlight, a whip-smart jazz rendering of 'Ev'ry Night at Seven' (written by Lerner and Lane for the film Royal Wedding), the audience is left wondering what exactly the doctor is hearing, since the voice that he should actually be listening to is David's.
Later confusion is caused by the staging of one of the show's catchier numbers, 'On The S.S. Bernard Cohn,' a song originally sung by Daisy to her friends describing how attentive Mark was to her while taking her out on a tour boat. The new mounting has David doing the same, only now, over to the side, there's the added silent presence of Mark keeping company with Melinda on the boat while David wears an ignored expression. Exactly what was going on is as unclear as the first act curtain scene, showing the three of them in some kind of dance together, ending with a blackout just before Mark seems to be about to kiss David. (This moment is explained in the second act, revealing what appears to be a reluctance to show the two men kissing on stage.)
The book makes a valiant attempt to flesh out Mark a bit more by making him a widower still mourning for his wife, with Kerry O'Malley wasted in the throwaway role of a friend who carries a secret torch for him. But the new plot needs to be propelled by a new score. There are perfunctory rewrites given to many of the original's songs (uncredited, making Lerner look bad to the unaware), plus a pair from the Clear Day movie (One of which is introduced with, 'I wrote a song for you.') and a few more Royal Wedding tunes, but there's nothing to approach Mark's major conflict; the fact that he, while supposedly heterosexual, is falling for someone that he only sees in the body of a man. Connick spends most of the evening in lethargic gloom, pepping up somewhat when he sits to the side watching other people perform and, since he really has nothing to act, sings like Harry Connick, Jr. in concert.
Similarly, there are no songs left in the score that were written specifically for Melinda, so Mueller, though sounding great, barely has a character to play. Turner's best scenes were lost with the decision to split the role in two, along with any empathy for the fellow he portrays, making his torcher 'What Did I Have That I Don't Have?' carry little weight. The character's ability to read minds and hear phones before they ring has been cut, along with the ability to make flowers bloom to miraculous volumes by talking to them, making a great Lerner character lyric, 'Hurry! It's Lovely Up Here,' superfluous, and the moment is chopped into bits that bridge together book snippets.
'Wait 'Til We're Sixty-Five,' a snazzy jazz waltz with a very funny lyric, was originally sung by the stuffy, asexual Warren, whose idea of marital romance was the great retirement benefits he and Daisy will have to look forward to. But the number makes little sense now, squeezed into the plot by a reference to the possibility of gay marriage someday being legal, and shared by Warren, David and their friends. Likewise mangled is the comic song, 'When I'm Being Born Again,' originally sung by an eccentric Greek millionaire who funds Mark's research, now twisted into an East Indian arrangement and given to his students. At least both songs feature Sarah Stiles, whose energetic comic performance as David's mod friend sparks every moment she's on stage.
Aside from the hacking and misplacement of Lerner's lyrics, Lane's melodies suffer from being encased in Doug Besterman's faux-70s orchestrations that reduce a truly beautiful, romantic score to middlebrow funk. Equally headache-inducing is Christine Jones' scenic design, which sets the piece behind cutouts of psychedelic optical illusions, occasionally lit by Kevin Adams with swirling hypnotic spirals.
Oh, and if you're going to set your musical in June of 1974, it might not be a good idea to add a line that gives the impression the Mets are a lousy team, since they were the defending league champions at the time.Hunky Harry Connick Jr. hits Broadway in a refashioned 'On a Clear Day You Can See Forever'
MARK KENNEDY AP Drama Writer | www.toledoblade.com/
DEC 8, 2011
NEW YORK — Harry Connick Jr. is stinking up Broadway and he knows it.
The singer, actor and musician has just cracked open a plastic container with his lunch and the powerful scent of salmon envelops him and a good-sized chunk of the empty seats around him in the St. James Theatre.
'This smells so bad, sorry,' he says, digging in nonetheless with a rascal's grin. 'I hate to eat in front of you, man. It smells disgusting.'
Connick needs plenty of lean protein these days as he prepares to lead a reworked revival of 'On a Clear Day You Can See Forever' to its Broadway opening, a task that's taking a lot out of the Grammy- and Emmy Award-winner.
'Man, this is so different. It's by far the most intricate character I've had to play. Definitely the most emotionally demanding thing I've ever had to do on stage,' he says in his slow New Orleans drawl.
The production takes a gender-bending twist to a musical with songs by Burton Lane and Alan Jay Lerner that made its debut on Broadway in 1965 and was adapted into a 1970 film starring Barbra Streisand and Yves Montand.
In the original, a widowed psychologist hypnotizes a young woman to help her quit smoking but discovers that his patient in a previous life was a 1940s jazz singer — and promptly falls in love with the long-gone woman. In the update, the psychologist falls in love with the jazz singer while treating a gay man.
'It's an impossible love triangle. This young kid is gay, I'm straight, I'm attracted to her, she's in a different time, so we can't really be together,' he says. 'He can't be with me. I can't be with him.'
Connick, who has recorded 24 albums and regularly tours with his blend of cool jazz, honky-tonk and big band standards, was well aware of the show's biggest songs — including 'Come Back to Me,' 'What Did I Have That I Don't Have?' and the haunting title tune — but wasn't a fan of the movie.
'It didn't make any sense,' he says flatly.
So he was delighted when he read how the story had been reworked by Michael Mayer, the director of 'Spring Awakening' and 'American Idiot,' and Peter Parnell, who supplied new book material. He calls Mayer brilliant and — in an even thicker Nor'Leans drawl — a 'mamba jamba.'
'For all intents and purposes, this is a new show. I mean, it's completely redone, reconceptualized,' says Connick, 44. 'It's kind of brilliant the way they did it. It makes it work. It gives it legs.'
The rest of the cast includes David Turner, Jessie Mueller, Kerry O'Malley and Drew Gehling, but Connick is clearly the big draw. It's his name and face on the marquee of the St. James Theatre, but he shrugs off the suggestion that he's carrying the show.
'I never thought of myself as having pressure. I'm out there giving it all I have but I've never really cared about anything other than the performance itself. This sounds crazy, but I've never really cared about the reviews. There's only a few people that I really care what they think,' he says. 'I mean, you can't please everybody so you're crazy if you're going to start chasing rainbows.'
Mueller, who is making her Broadway debut as Connick's love interest, says she was a fan of his music before she joined the production and has now watched as he steps into the role of leading man.
'He is one of the most positive, confident and humble people I've ever had the pleasure to meet,' she wrote in an email. 'It's a unique combination. People are going to come see this show because they love him, and they're going to get to see a side of him they've never seen before.'
Connick is no stranger to Broadway, having starred in 'The Pajama Game' in 2006, written music for the 2001 show 'Thou Shalt Not,' twice performed concert shows and picked up two Tony Award nominations. He says he keeps returning because of the collaborative, intense nature of Broadway.
'I respect these people, in a sense, more than anybody else in show business because of what they bring to the table. The people on this stage? They are freaky talented. They can do everything. And they're very unsung, especially the people in the ensemble,' he says.
Connick, whose 20 films include the recent 'Dolphin Tale' alongside Morgan Freeman and Ashley Judd, says his career as an actor and singer hasn't been mapped out. He chooses projects that appeal to him.
'It's all about 'what's out there that's really cool?' It might be a record. It might be a movie or a play,' he says. 'I like this process a lot. It's different than anything, man. I mean, this world is unique.'
He likes the world so much that he's writing a children's musical, 'The Happy Elf.' The project started from a song on a Christmas album and has morphed into an animated special and a book. It's about an elf named Eubie who tries to convert a town of mean-spirited sad-sacks.
'Who knows?' Connick asks, 'Maybe eventually it'll be a thing that can be performed in children's theaters.'
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Frequently Asked Questions
Q. What is ON A CLEAR DAY YOU CAN SEE FOREVER about?
Three-time Grammy® Award winner, two-time Emmy® Award winner and Tony Award® nominee Harry Connick, Jr. stars in Broadway’s new romantic musical playing Dr. Mark Bruckner, a down-to-earth psychiatrist who finds himself suddenly swept off his feet by a beautiful woman—and swept into a world he never dreamed possible. Hopelessly and helplessly head over heels, the dashing doctor must find a way to make the love of a lifetime last forever.
Q. Who wrote it?
The music is by Burton Lane and the lyrics are by Alan Jay Lerner. Their delightful Tony Award®-nominated score is enhanced by classics from their film scores for On A Clear Day You Can See Forever (1970) and Royal Wedding (1951). This production features a new book by Peter Parnell that is based on the original book by Alan Jay Lerner.
Q. Who is the director?
The show has been reconceived and directed by Tony Award® winner Michael Mayer.
Q. Who’s in it?
ON A CLEAR DAY YOU CAN SEE FOREVER stars Grammy® and Emmy® Award winner and Tony Award® nominee Harry Connick, Jr. The roles of 'David Gamble' and 'Melinda Wells' will be played, respectively, by David Turner and Jessie Mueller, in her Broadway debut.
Q. I’m not familiar with the work of Burton Lane, Alan Jay Lerner and Peter Parnell. Will I like ON A CLEAR DAY YOU CAN SEE FOREVER?
If you enjoy classic love stories with lots of humor, lighthearted romance, great songs and delightfully original characters, you will love ON A CLEAR DAY.
Q. Where did the show play before?
ON A CLEAR DAY originally opened on Broadway at the Mark Hellinger Theatre on October 17, 1965 and starred Barbara Harris as “Daisy Gamble” and John Cullum as “Dr. Mark Bruckner,” who both received Tony Award® Nominations for their performances, as did the score. In 1970 it was adapted into a film directed by Vincente Minnelli, which starred Barbra Streisand as “Daisy Gamble” and Yves Montand as “Dr. Mark Bruckner.”
Following a developmental workshop at The Vineyard Theatre in the fall of 2009, the production received a series of concert readings as part of New York Stage and Film and Vassar’s Powerhouse Theater season in the summer of 2010. In the summer of 2011, The Vineyard Theatre produced a developmental process for the show that culminated in a week-long developmental lab production.
Q. Who is producing ON A CLEAR DAY YOU CAN SEE FOREVER?
Originating producerLiza Lernerjoins withTom Hulce and Ira Pittelmanand Broadway Across America (John Gore, Thomas B. McGrath, Beth Williams) to bring ON A CLEAR DAY to Broadway.
Q. How long will ON A CLEAR DAY YOU CAN SEE FOREVER be running?
The first preview was November 12, 2011; opening night was December 11. Tickets for ON A CLEAR DAY YOU CAN SEE FOREVER are currently on sale through July 8, 2012. Please check back on our website for information for additional performance dates!
Q. Is ON A CLEAR DAY YOU CAN SEE FOREVER appropriate for children?
Yes. Kids 12 and older will have the best experience, but children 5 and up are welcome. Children under the age of 4 are not permitted in the theatre.
While ON A CLEAR DAY contains no objectionable content, the material might best be understood and enjoyed by children who have started elementary school.
Q. How long is ON A CLEAR DAY YOU CAN SEE FOREVER?
The running time is 2 hours and 15 minutes, with one 15 minute intermission.
Q. Is there an intermission?
Yes.
Q. What are show times?
Q. Will the stars definitely be on stage at the performance I attend?
The principal cast members are scheduled to appear in all posted performances, unless otherwise noted on the website or on Telecharge. Any last-minute substitutions are made just prior to the performance and will be posted at the theatre.
Q. How much are tickets?
Tickets range in price from $54 to $157.
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CAST
Harry Connick, Jr.
Dr. Mark Bruckner
Over the past two decades, Harry Connick, Jr. has proven to be among the world’s most successful and multi-talented artists. He returns to Broadway in ON A CLEAR DAY YOU CAN SEE FOREVER following the sold-out, critically acclaimed 2010 run of Harry Connick, Jr. in Concert on Broadway at the Neil Simon Theatre. The show, which also aired on PBS as part of the national Great Performances series, earned Connick a 2011 Emmy®. Previous successes on Broadway include the sold-out concert series at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre in 1990, Tony® nominations for his performance in The Pajama Game and for his music and lyrics in Thou Shalt Not. Raised in New Orleans, Connick first performed publicly at age five, appeared on his first jazz recording at age 9and released his self-titled major-label debut on Columbia Records at 19. Since then he has recorded 24 albums garnering sales of over 25 million albums and earning him three Grammy Awards®. Connick has acted in 20 films, most recently alongside Morgan Freeman and Ashley Judd in Dolphin Tale which reached #1 at the box office. He has contributed music for several films, including When Harry Met Sally and has earned several television credits including a recurring role on Will & Grace. Connick is a man of many talents, his book The Happy Elf will be released by Harper-Collins during the 2011 holiday season, marking his debut as a children’s book author.
David Turner
David Gamble
Broadway: Arcadia, Sunday in the Park With George, The Ritz, In My Life, The Invention of Love. Off-Broadway: The Last Sunday in June, Gutenberg! The Musical!, The Butter and Egg Man, Shakespeare (Abridged). Helen Hayes Award nominations for Spamalot and The Dog in the Manger. Six seasons at Williamstown. TV: The Good Wife, Lipstick Jungle. Education: BA, Williams College; CELTA (Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults), Cambridge University. Turner received BMI’s Jerry Harrington Award for songwriting and, as a pianist, has played both Feinstein’s and Birdland. He is also an instrument-rated airplane pilot. Visit David’s favorite charity at www.ASTEPonline.org.
Jessie Mueller
Melinda Wells
Jessie Mueller is thrilled to be making her Broadway debut with such an amazing team. Regional: Animal Crackers (Grace/Mary), A Christmas Carol (Belle) – Goodman Theatre; She Loves Me(Amalia) – Writers Theatre; Guys and Dolls (Adelaide), Fiddler on the Roof (Tzeital) – Marriott Lincolnshire Theatre; Curtains (Niki Harris), Meet Me in St. Louis (Esther Smith) – Drury Lane Oakbrook; Carousel (Carrie) – Court Theatre/Long Wharf Theatre; How Can You Run With a Shell on Your Back?,Henry IV, Parts I & 2 – Chicago Shakespeare Theatre/RSC. Proud Actor’s Equity member. Love and gratitude to God, Mom, Dad, Matt, Abby, Andrew, Andy, and Grandma!
Kerry O’Malley
Dr. Sharone Stein
Broadway: Irving Berlin’s White Christmas (Betty, original Broadway cast), Into the Woods (The Baker's Wife, 2002 Drama Desk and Outer Critics nominations, cast album), Billy Elliot (Billy's Mum), Annie Get Your Gun (Dolly Tate), Cyrano,Translations. Off-Broadway: Dublin Carol, How I Learned to Drive, Finian's Rainbow, Flight, Promises, Promises (Encores! opposite Martin Short). Film/TV: Case 39, The Happening, Rounders, Certainty,Shameless, Brotherhood, Hart of Dixie, The Mentalist, Law & Order, Law & Order: SVU, Law & Order: LA, Cold Case,Detroit 1-8-7,Monk, My Name Is Earl, Criminal Minds, Bones, Without a Trace, Charmed. Education: Duke University, Harvard’s A.R.T. Institute. www.kerryomalley.net
Drew Gehling
Warren Smith
Broadway: Jersey Boys. Nat’l Tour/Regional: A Minister’s Wife (LCT, Original Cast Album), Jersey Boys (Chicago, San Francisco, Las Vegas), Johnny Baseball (American Repertory Theatre), Anne of Green Gables (Off-Broadway, award-winning cast recording), The Flamingo Kid, Candide, Moby Dick, Hello Dolly (Paper Mill), Myths and Hymns, Nightingale (new musical by Duncan Sheik and Steven Sater), and Derma. TV/Film: 59th Primetime Emmys,A Capitol Fourth, and Bully (Rockstar Games). A true student of life, he is thrilled to be working with this amazing company of actors. A graduate of Carnegie Mellon, he wishes to thank his wonderful family, friends and Sara. www.drewgehling.com
Sarah Stiles
Muriel Bunson
Sarah Stiles was Kate/Lucy in Avenue Q on Broadway and re-joined the cast for its current Off-Broadway run at New World Stages. Stiles also appeared in the Broadway and first national touring companies of The 25th Annual Putnam Co. Spelling Bee as Logainne and toured with Tommy Tune in Dr. Dolittle. Her Off-Broadway credits include Joanne in Vanities (Second Stage) and Nazirah in The Road to Qatar (York Theater), and can be heard on the original cast recordings of both of those shows. Love and thanks to Bryan Leder, David Berlin, Tanya Berezin and my Tree. For Madeline.
Paul O’Brien
Anton, Leo Kravis, Gene Miller, Wesley Porter 1974, Maurice, Mr. Van Deusen
Broadway: The Importance of Being Ernest, Cymbeline, King Lear, Twelfth Night, Equus, Democracy, The Crucible. Off-Broadway: Hamlet (NYSF); Death Defying Acts (Variety Arts); Three Birds Alighting on a Field (MTC); The Seagull (Second Stage); Widow's Blind Date (Circle in the Square); A Moon for the Misbegotten(Pearl). Regional: Guthrie, Williamstown, Playmakers Rep, Actors Theater of Louisville, Geffen, South Coast Rep, Long Wharf, Trinity Rep, Huntington. Film: Fairhaven, Henry's Crime, Redacted, What's the Worst That Could Happen, The Devil's Own. TV: “Law and Order: CI,” “ER,” “Sopranos,” “The Practice,” “Providence,” “Star Trek Voyager,” “A Case of Deadly Force,” “Angel,” “Conan O'Brien,” “One Life to Live.”
Heather Ayers
Cynthia Roland, Leora Kahn, Club Vedado Singer, Betsy Rappaport, Radio Singer
Most recently, Heather was the Desiree standby in Trevor Nunn's A Little Night Music. Other Broadway credits: Mel Brooks' Young Frankenstein (Megan Mullally understudy). Off-Broadway: Five Course Love, Sarah Plain and Tall, Forbidden Broadway Strikes Back, five City Center Encores! productions. Regional: Yale Repertory, The Old Globe, Cincinnati Playhouse, Barrington Stage, George Street Playhouse, Kansas City Repertory, The O'Neill Festival, The Alley Theatre, New York Stage & Film, Repertory of St. Louis, among others. Recordings: Mel Brooks' Young Frankenstein, City Center Encores! Face the Music, Five Course Love. Television:” Z-Rock” (IFC), “Lights Out” (FX). www.heatherayers.com
Lori Wilner
Vera, Mrs. Hatch, Mrs. Lloyd, Radio Singer
Broadway: A Catered Affair, The Diary of Anne Frank (Natalie Portman, Linda Lavin), Fiddler on the Roof (opposite Harvey Fierstein), Awake and Sing!, The People in the Picture, Everett Beekin, and Those Were the Days. Off-Bway: Hannah Senesh (Drama Desk nom, Goldy), Milk and Honey, Hannah 1939, Dreyfus in Rehearsal, Hershele Ostropolye. Regional: Giant (world premiere – Signature), Cabaret, Beau Jest, Brighton Beach Memoirs, Broadway Bound, Broken Glass, The Sisters Rosensweig, The Glass Menagerie, The Heidi Chronicles, Lost in Yonkers, When Something Wonderful Happens, Conversations with my Father, The Memory of Water. Film: Second Guessing Grandma, Gebirtig, Ride for your Life.
Benjamin Eakeley
Preston, Announcer, Radio Singer, Stage Manager
Broadway/Nat’l: Sweeney Todd (The Beadle). Film/TV: The Good Shepherd, The Good Wife, An Englishman in NY. Regional: Joe Gillis, Demetrius, Tony Kirby, Aguecheek, Man, Max Halliday, Ernst Ludwig, Dumaine. Yale graduate.
Alex Ellis
Hannah
What a year! Broadway: Catch Me If You Can (OBC). Tours: Millie, Legally Blonde. BFA, ELON. Love and Thanks to this Creative Team, Cathy, TalentWorks, Station3, Mom, Sissy and my HINEYS!
Tyler Maynard
Roger, Sawyer, Radio Singer
Broadway/NY: The Little Mermaid (Flotsam, OC), Mary Poppins(Valentine, OC), Altar Boyz (Mark – Theatre World Award; Drama Desk, Lucille Lortel noms), Mamma Mia!, Miracle Brothers, The Kid.Tour: On the Record.
Zachary Prince
Alan, Wesley Porter 1944
Broadway: Baby It’s You! (Stanley/Murray standby). Nat’l tour: Jersey Boys (Frankie Valli). Regional: Into the Woods (the Baker, KC Rep, dir. MoisésKaufman). Mahlon, this one’s for you. BFA,Carnegie Mellon. www.zacharyprince.com
Alysha Umphress
Paula
Broadway: American Idiot (OBC). National tour: Bring It On (Legendary singer). Off-Broadway: Make Me A Song. TV: “Nurse Jackie”, “Law and Order: SVU”. For Mom, Dad & Nonna. YMBJ/NTBB/SOS.
Kendal Hartse
Ensemble
Broadway debut! National Tour: Cats (Demeter). Regional credits include Crazy For You (Polly) and Cabaret (Sally Bowles). BFA, Boston Conservatory. Love and thanks to Austin and family! For Grammie.
Grasan Kingsberry
Ensemble
This marks the sixth B’way show for Grasan, and the return to the St. James Theatre! Originally from Charlotte, NC, he moved to NYC chasing a dream, and now he’s living it! Much gratitude to CMF, Virginia S., and my family!
Philip Hoffman
Standby for Anton, Dr. Leo Kravis, Maurice, Mr. Van Deusen, Gene Miller, Wesley Porter (1974)
Nine original Broadway casts, including Into The Woods, Is There Life After High School?, Falsettos, The Scarlet Pimpernel and A Catered Affair. Off-Broadway and Regional productions range from Angels In America to The Winter’s Tale. Several cast recordings and TV appearances. www.1philiphoffman.com
Sean Allan Krill
Standby for Dr. Mark Bruckner
Broadway: Mamma Mia! Off-Broadway: Brother/Sister Plays (Public). Regional: Antony & Cleopatra, Hot L Baltimore, Comedy of Errors, The Importance of Being Earnest, Travesties, Brigadoon (Jeff Award nomination), Spamalot, Forever Plaid (Jeff Award, Best Ensemble). Tours: Mamma Mia! (Outstanding Leading Actor, BroadwayWorld.com), Thoroughly Modern Millie (Leon Rabin & Carbonell Award nominations).seanallankrill.com
Patrick O'Neill
Swing, Dance Captain
Broadway Debut! National Tour: Chicago, Oklahoma! Film/TV: The Producers, Across The Universe. Favorite Regional: Bat Boy (Helen Hayes Nom.), Kennedy Center, Papermill, North Shore, Maine State. Training: Catholic University. Proud Member: AEA, IATSE 764. Special thanks to Mr. Hobbins, my high school history teacher, because I always said I would.
Christianne Tisdale
Swing
Broadway: Beauty and the Beast, Triumph of Love; Titanic (1stNat’l); One Touch of Venus (West End). TV: 30 Rock; Law & Order; Letterman. Yale. Acting: Sande Shurin. Kline Award 2010. For NanaPop.
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CREATIVE
Alan Jay Lerner
Original Book and Lyrics
Alan Jay Lerner, together with his frequent collaborator Frederick Loewe, created some of the world's most popular and enduring works of musical theatre, including My Fair Lady, Camelot, Brigadoon, Paint Your Wagon and Gigi. He won three Tony Awards® and three Academy Awards®.
Burton Lane
Music
Burton Lane is one of popular music's most revered songwriters. Perhaps best known for his incandescent score for the musical Finian's Rainbow, he and Alan Jay Lerner collaborated on ON A CLEAR DAY, Carmelina and the film Royal Wedding. He is a two-time Oscar® and Tony Award® nominee.
Peter Parnell
New Book
Theater credits include QED, which starred Alan Alda both at the Mark Taper Forum and on Broadway at the Vivian Beaumont Theatre (Lincoln Center Theater Company). His two-part stage adaptation of John Irving’s The Cider House Rules won the American Theatre Critics Association Award. His other plays have been produced by the Atlantic, the Public Theater, and Playwrights Horizons. For television, Parnell was a co-producer for The West Wing (two Emmy citations), and a producer for The Guardian, Inconceivable and Six Degrees. Parnell serves as Vice President of the Dramatists Guild.
Michael Mayer
Reconceived and Directed by
Michael Mayer is one of the theatre's most acclaimed visionaries. He is the Tony Award®-winning director of more than a dozen Broadway productions, including the Tony Award®-winning best musicals Spring Awakening and Thoroughly Moden Millie and the Tony Award®-winning best play Side Man.
JoAnn M. Hunter
Choreographer
Credits include Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (nat’l tour), Curtains at PMP/TUTS, Broadway Bound. Associate choreographer: Broadway productions of Spring Awakening (U.S. tour, West End, Vienna, Japan, Korea), Curtains, The Wedding Singer, All Shook Up,Thoroughly Modern Millie (U.S. tour, West End) and Petroushka for ABT. As a performer: twelve Broadway shows, including Thoroughly Modern Millie; Thou Shalt Not;Kiss Me, Kate; Chicago; Steel Pier; A FunnyThing Happened…; Guys and Dolls; MissSaigon; Shogun; Jerome Robbins’ Broadway.
Christine Jones
On A Clear Day St John
Scenic Design
Broadway: American Idiot (Tony Award®), Everyday Rapture, Spring Awakening (Tony®nomination), all directed by Michael Mayer; The Green Bird, directed by Julie Taymor.Off-Broadway credits include Coraline (music by Stephin Merritt) and LeonardCohen’s The Book of Longing (music byPhilip Glass). Jones teaches at NYU and isartistic director of Theatre for One, a portableprivate performing-arts space designed forone performer and one audience member,which can be seen at theatreforone.com.
Catherine Zuber
On A Clear Day Musical
Costume Design
Tony Award® winner for South Pacific, TheCoast of Utopia, The Light in the Piazza,Awake and Sing! and The Royal Family (also Outer Critics Circle nom.). Broadway credits include How to Succeed in Business…,Women on the Verge…, Seascape (Tony® nom.), Joe Turner… (OCC nom.), Oleanna,A Man for All Seasons, Cry-Baby, Doubt,Little Women, Dracula, Dinner at Eight (Tony®, OCC noms.), Twelfth Night (Tony® nom.). Met Opera credits include Il Barbieredi Siviglia, Doctor Atomic, Compte Ory and Tales of Hoffman.
Kevin Adams
Lighting Design
B’way: Man and Boy, American Idiot (Tony Award®), Everyday Rapture, SpringAwakening (Tony Award®), Next to Normal (Tony® nom.), Hair (Tony® nom.), PassingStrange, The 39 Steps (Tony® and Drama Desk Awards), Take Me Out. Solo shows for John Leguizamo, Eve Ensler, Anna Deveare Smith, Eric Bogosian. Off-B’way: Rent, TheIntelligent Homosexual’s Guide…, TheIllusion, The Scottsboro Boys, Betty’sSummer Vacation, Hedwig and the AngryInch. Also: Steppenwolf Theatre, Donmar Warehouse,Mildred Pierce (HBO), Obie for Sustained Excellence. www.ambermylar.com
Peter Hylenski
Sound Design
Grammy, Tony® and Olivier nominee. Selected Broadway: The Scottsboro Boys,Shrek the Musical, Rock of Ages, Lend Me aTenor, Elf, Cry-Baby, The Times They Are AChangin’,The Wedding Singer, Sweet Charity,Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me, LittleWomen, Brooklyn. Other credits: Le Rêve (Las Vegas), Ragtime (West End), Walking WithDinosaurs, Mame, Opening Doors, Annie.Designed for Carnegie Hall, Radio City Music Hall, Madison Square Garden and the Kennedy Center. Also a producer and engineer for film, albums and television projects.
Tom Watson
Wig & Hair Design
Tom Watson is head of the wig and makeup department at the Metropolitan Opera. He has designed wigs for more than 50 Broadway productions. Current and recent Broadway designs include On a Clear Day…; How toSucceed…; Wonderland; The House of BlueLeaves; Born Yesterday; The AddamsFamily; Million Dollar Quartet; Rock ofAges; Wicked; Promises, Promises; Elling;Mrs. Warren’s Profession; South Pacific;Sondheim on Sondheim; A View From theBridge; and Sunday in the Park With George.
Doug Besterman
Orchestrator
Broadway: How to Succeed…, Sister Act, Elf,Young Frankenstein, Tarzan, Dracula,Thoroughly Modern Millie (2002 Tony/Drama Desk), The Producers (2001 Tony/Drama Desk), Seussical, The MusicMan, Fosse (1999 Tony), Big, Damn Yankees,Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. International: Sister Act, Guys and Dolls. Regional: ItShoulda Been You, Limelight, Minsky’s. Film/television: Nine, The Producers, Mulan,Anastasia, Lincoln, Cinderella, Annie,Geppetto, South Pacific, Superstar, Scrubs and the upcoming Smash.
Lawrence Yurman
Music Direction and Arrangements
Lawrence Yurman was the music director of theNY productions of Grey Gardens. AdditionalBroadway: Thoroughly Modern Millie, Side Show, …Forum, Arcadia (LCT), Marie Christine (LCT), Guys and Dolls (1992), Les Misérables andThe Christmas Spectacular at Radio City Music Hall. As an arranger:two engagements with Lea Salonga at theCafé Carlyle, recordings with ChristineEbersole, Howard McGillin and T. OliverReid. For Brigid and Mikayla, who alwayshelp me to see clearly.