Cast & Creative Team Announced for the Alliance's World Premiere Musical, Tuck Everlasting

 

ATLANTA, November 10, 2014 — The Alliance Theatre is pleased to announce the cast and creative team behind its upcoming world premiere musical, TUCK EVERLASTING.  Based on the beloved best-selling novel by Natalie Babbitt, TUCK EVERLASTING is an exhilarating story about everlasting love, never-ending life, and discovering what it means to truly feel alive.  

 

TUCK EVERLASTING will be brought to life on stage in a wholly original production, featuring a book by Tony Award® nominee Claudia Shear (Dirty Blonde), music by Chris Miller (The Burnt Part Boys), lyrics by Nathan Tysen (The Burnt Part Boys), and direction and choreography by Tony Award® winner Casey Nicholaw (The Book of Mormon, Aladdin, The Drowsy Chaperone, Spamalot).

 

Leading the cast in the role of Winnie Foster, a young girl who stumbles upon a family with a fabulous secret, is ten-year-old Atlanta based actor Sarah Charles Lewis.  Lewis has been performing in and around Atlanta since the age of five, most recently as the title character in Atlanta Lyric Theatre’s production of Annie.  Joining the cast are Tony Award® Nominee Carolee Carmello (Scandalous, Parade) as Ma Tuck, Andrew Keenan-Bolger (Newsies The Musical) as Jesse Tuck, Robert Lenzi (South Pacific) as Miles Tuck, Tony Award® Nominee Terrence Mann (Pippin, Beauty and the Beast) as the Man in the Yellow Suit, and Michael Park (Cat on a Hot Tin Roof) as Pa Tuck.  The cast also features Bill Buell (Cyrano de Bergerac) as Constable Joe, Michael Wartella (Wicked) as Hugo, Shannon Eubanks (Regional: The Savannah Disputation) as Nana, and Liza Jaine (Regional: Mary Poppins) as Betsy Foster.

 

Additional members of the TUCK EVERLASTING creative team include Set Designer Walt Spangler (A Christmas Story The Musical), Tony Award® winning Costume Designer Gregg Barnes (Kinky Boots, Follies), Tony Award® winning Lighting Designer Kenneth Posner (Kinky Boots, Pippin), and Tony Award® winning Sound Designer Brian Ronan (Beautiful The Carole King Musical, The Book of Mormon).

 

Book-writer Claudia Shear added: “Tuck Everlasting, like all great tales of immortality, both tempts and frightens us. What makes it beloved is its romantic heart - what makes it endure is the indefinable and timeless shiver of a magical story that makes us believe.”

 

“I am extremely excited about debuting Tuck Everlasting at the Alliance,” said lyricist Nathan Tysen.  “It has been a dream of mine to work there and I can't think of a better place to foster our musical.  The quality and diversity of their work speaks for itself, and their patrons’ interest and enthusiasm has already been overwhelming.”

 

“Nathan & I have wanted to turn Tuck Everlasting into a musical since we met at NYU, and way before that, if you count us dreaming about it separately in our childhoods,” said composer Chris Miller. “As the novel celebrates its 40th year in 2015, I can't wait to share this heartfelt, joyful show with Atlanta audiences.”

 

“I'm so excited about the cast of Tuck Everlasting for the Alliance production,” said director Casey Nicholaw. “It's a great mix of Atlanta and Broadway pros, many of whom have been involved with the production since its inception.  We can't wait to bring it to life here in Atlanta.”

 

Performances for TUCK EVERLASTING are Tuesday through Thursday at 7:30 pm, Fridays at 8:00 pm, Saturdays at 2:30 pm and 8:00 pm, and Sundays at 2:30 pm and 7:30 pm, January 21 – February 22, 2015.  There will be no 2:30 pm performance on Jan. 24.  There will be no 7:30 pm performance on Feb. 1.  Opening Night is Wednesday, February 4, at 7:30 pm.

 

Performances are also available for school groups and home-school groups on Thursday, January 29 and Thursday, February 12, at 11:00 am.  Appropriate for grades 5-12 and applicable to Curriculum Standards: CCRR.2; CCRR.3; CC5RL.6; TAMS.1/TASHFTI.1; TAMS.11/TASHFTI.11.  Tickets for school groups are deeply discounted.  To book your school group, call 404.733.4661 or email allianceschoolday@woodruffcenter.org.  Learn more about all field trip opportunities at http://alliancetheatre.org/content/field-trips.  

 

Tickets start at $25 and are available at the Woodruff Arts Center Box Office in person or by calling 404.733.5000.  Tickets are also available online at www.alliancetheatre.org/tuckeverlasting.  Discounted rates for groups of 10 or more are available by calling 404.733.4690.  Discounted rates are also available for members of the military, seniors, and students.  The Alliance Theatre is located at the Woodruff Arts Center, 1280 Peachtree Street, NE, Atlanta, GA 30309, at the corner of Peachtree and 15th Street.    

 

TUCK EVERLASTING is part of the Coca-Cola Series on the Alliance Stage.  TUCK EVERLASTING is also supported by The Home Depot Foundation.  

 

CALENDAR LISTING SYNOPSIS:

 

TUCK EVERLASTING (world premiere, musical)

Book by Claudia Shear

Music by Chris Miller; Lyrics by Nathan Tysen

Based on the Novel Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt 

Directed and Choreographed by Casey Nicholaw

Performance Dates:  January 21 – February 22, 2015

A young girl dreaming of adventure meets a family with a fascinating secret. Their chance encounter will change them all forever.  Take an exhilarating journey you’ll never forget in this new musical about everlasting love, never-ending life, and discovering what it means to truly feel alive. Beloved by generations of readers, the best-selling, award-winning novel by Natalie Babbitt, TUCK EVERLASTING, will be brought to life on stage in a wholly original production, featuring a book by Tony Award® nominee Claudia Shear (Dirty Blonde), music by Chris Miller (The Burnt Part Boys), lyrics by Nathan Tysen (The Burnt Part Boys), and direction and choreography by Tony Award® winner Casey Nicholaw (The Book of Mormon, Aladdin, The Drowsy Chaperone, Spamalot). For tickets and information, visit www.alliancetheatre.org/tuckeverlasting or call 404.733.5000.

 

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About the Alliance Theatre

 

Founded in 1968, the Alliance Theatre has become the leading producing theatre in the Southeast, creating the powerful experience of shared theatre for diverse people.  The Alliance values excellence, pursued with integrity and creativity, and achieved through collaboration.  Reaching more than 200,000 patrons annually, the Alliance delivers powerful programming that challenges adult and youth audiences to think critically and care deeply.  Under the leadership of Susan V. Booth, Jennings Hertz Artistic Director, the Alliance Theatre received the Regional Theatre Tony Award ® in recognition of sustained excellence in programming, education and community engagement.  

 

Known for its high artistic standards and national role in creating significant theatrical works, the Alliance has premiered more than 80 original productions including Tony Award® winners The Color Purple, by Alice Walker, Aida, by Elton John and Tim Rice, and Alfred Uhry’s The Last Night of Ballyhoo.  The Alliance has a reputation for developing important American musicals with a strong track record of Broadway, touring, and subsequent productions, including the world premieres of Sister Act: The Musical, Come Fly Away, Bring It On: The Musical, Stephen King and John Mellencamp’s Ghost Brothers of Darkland County, the American premiere of Zorro, with music by the Gipsy Kings, and most recently, Harmony – A New Musical by Barry Manilow and Bruce Sussman.  The Alliance also creates and nurtures the careers of playwrights through the Alliance/Kendeda National Graduate Playwriting Competition, producing a premiere for the competition winner as part of the regular season, and the Reiser Atlanta Artists Lab, providing developmental support and production resources for three performing arts projects each year.  The work produced by the Alliance allows locally based artists the chance to create on a nationally watched stage, building and sustaining Atlanta’s artistic community.  

 

Each year the Alliance Theatre Acting Program and Education Department reaches close to 50,000 students through performances, acting classes, drama camps, and in-school initiatives.  The Alliance creates and produces plays for young audiences at every age level: from the Collision Project, where high school artists create and perform new work based on a classic text, to the ground breaking Theatre for the Very Young, creating interactive shows for infants and toddlers.  The Alliance also offers community education classes for all ages and abilities of theatre interest; and adult student productions of unproduced plays in development, working with local and national playwrights.  

 

An active participant in Georgia classrooms, the Alliance has developed programs using theatrical techniques to aid in student learning through storytelling and problem solving.  The Alliance’s Institute for Educators and Teaching Artists equips teachers with theatrical techniques that link directly to school curriculum, align with the Common Core Georgia Performance Standards, and increase student learning.  These programs include Georgia Wolf Trap Early Learning Through the Arts, which focuses on literacy skills for children in Pre-K – 2nd Grade, and Dramaturgy K-12, in which students create research material that informs Alliance productions and prepares peer audiences.  Twice recognized by the U.S. Education Department as leaders in arts education, these programs reflect the Alliance’s commitment to city wide arts access.

 

The Alliance delivers the finest talent, art and educational opportunities for Atlanta audiences—proving once again that the Alliance is where great theatre lives.  

 

alliancetheatre.org or 404.733.4650