Lost in the Stars: Encores! announce cast

Chuck Cooper, Daniel Breaker, Patina Miller, Sharon Washington, Daniel Gerroll, John Douglas Thompson and Sherry Boone have been cast in Lost in the Stars, the second Encores! production of the New York City Center season, running from 3 - 6 Feb 2011 at City Center.

Lost in the Stars has music by Kurt Weill and book and lyrics by Maxwell Anderson. It will be directed by Gary Griffin and choreographed by Chase Brock, with music direction by Rob Berman.

Lost in the Stars, the second and final collaboration between Kurt Weill and Maxwell Anderson, was billed as a "musical tragedy" when it opened on Broadway in 1949. Based on Alan Paton's novel 'Cry, the Beloved Country,' the show provides an uncompromising social indictment of apartheid South Africa through the story of two aging men, one black, one white, brought together by a shared grief.

The score, one of Weill's most polystylistic, contains operatic arias, chorales, blues, folk music, and pop tunes, and makes use of the chorus (representing the blacks and whites of Johannesburg) to comment upon the action and propel the story forward. It includes "Stay Well", "Trouble Man," and the haunting title song.

Lost in the Stars is the last work Weill completed before his death in 1950. It opened at the Music Box Theater on 30 Oct 1949, and played 281 performances. A Broadway revival in 1972 ran for 39 performances. This is the second production of Lost in the Stars to be staged at City Center: A 1958 City Opera production featured Shirley Verrett and Louis Gossett, Jr.

The full cast of Lost in the Stars features: Sherry Boone, Daniel Breaker, Kieran Campion, Chuck Cooper, Quentin Earl Darrington, Clifton Duncan, Mark Eland, Daniel Gerroll, Jeremy Gumbs, Chike Johnson, Stephen Kunken, Patina Miller, James Rebhorn, Ted Sutherland, John Douglas Thompson and Sharon Washington, with Adam Alexander, Andre Garner, Rosena Hill, Mary Illes, Amy Justman, Joy Lynn Matthews, Andrew McRae, Patricia Phillips, Devin Richards, Lindsay Roberts, Nathaniel Stampley, Eric Van Hoven, Kevin Vortmann, J.D. Webster and Jorell Williams.

Bios:

Sherry Boone (Irena) has appeared on Broadway in 'Marie Christine,' 'Ragtime,' 'Master Class' and 'Jelly's Last Jam' and off-Broadway and nationally in 'Phantom of the Opera,' as 'Carrie Pipperidge' in 'Carousel' and as 'Eliza Doolittle' in 'My Fair Lady.' She has been a guest soloist with the National Symphony Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, Toronto Symphony, Nashville Symphony Orchestra, Hartford Symphony and at Lincoln Center's Mostly Mozart Festival.

Daniel Breaker (Absalom Kumalo) has appeared on Broadway in' Shrek: The Musical,' 'Passing Strange' (Tony Award nomination), 'Cymbeline' and 'Well.' His off-Broadway credits include 'Passing Strange,' 'Fabulation' and 'Pericles.' He has been seen in the films 'The Dark Fields' and 'Passing Strange' (directed by Spike Lee).

Chuck Cooper (Stephen Kumalo) is a veteran of 10 Broadway plays and musicals and numerous television guest leads and film appearances. He won the 1996 Tony Award for Best Featured Actor for his portrayal of 'Memphis' in 'The Life.' Other Broadway credits include: 'Finian's Rainbow,' 'Lennon,' 'Caroline, or Change,' 'Chicago,' 'Passion,' 'Someone to Watch Over Me,' 'Rumors,' 'Amen Corner' and 'Getting Away with Murder.' His off-Broadway credits include: 'Caroline, or Change,'' Thunder Knocking on the Door,' 'Marco Polo Sings a Solo' and 'Avenue X.'

Daniel Gerroll (James Jarvis) has just completed playing 'Scrooge' in the Guthrie Theater's new adaptation of 'A Christmas Carol.' On Broadway he has appeared in 'Plenty,' 'High Society' and 'Enchanted April.' He has been seen off-Broadway at Manhattan Theatre Club, Roundabout, Second Stage and many others. His film and television credits include "The Namesake," "Big Business," "The Good Wife," "Ugly Betty," "The Starter Wife" and "Law and Order: Criminal Intent."

Patina Miller (Linda) was nominated for an Olivier Award for her performance as 'Deloris Van Cartier' in the London production of 'Sister Act,' a role she will reprise on Broadway this spring. She was last seen in New York as 'Dionne' in the Public Theater's production of 'Hair' in Central Park.

John Douglas Thompson (John Kumalo) appeared on Broadway in 'Cyrano de Bergerac' and 'Julius Caesar.' He won a 2009 Obie Award for his performance in the title role of 'Othello' at Theater for a New Audience and was nominated for a Drama Desk Award for his performance in the Irish Repertory Theater's production of 'The Emperor Jones.' His other credits include Classic Stage Company's production of 'The Forest.'

Sharon Washington (Grace Kumalo) was most recently seen on Broadway in 'The Scottsboro Boys.' Her many off-Broadway credits include 'The Overwhelming,' 'House and Garden,' 'The Radical Mystique,' 'Stuff Happens,' 'Richard III' and 'String of Pearls.'

Gary Griffin (Director) directed the Encores! productions of ;The New Moon,' 'Pardon My English,' 'A Tree Grows in Brooklyn,' 'The Apple Tree' and 'Music in the Air.' He directed 'The Color Purple' and' The Apple Tree' on Broadway, 'Pacific Overtures' in London (Olivier Award, Outstanding Musical Production, Olivier Nomination, Best Director) and 'West Side Story' and 'Evita' at Stratford Festival of Canada. Griffin is associate artistic director of Chicago Shakespeare Theater, where he directed 'Private Lives,' 'Amadeus' and 'A Little Night Music.' Regionally, he has directed at The Alliance Theatre, The Old Globe, McCarter Theatre, Signature Theatre and Kansas City Repertory Theatre.

Chase Brock (Choreographer) is artistic director of The Chase Brock Experience, the Brooklyn-based contemporary dance company for which he has created 25 dances and commissioned six original scores. In addition, he is the choreographer of the bestselling Nintendo Wii video game 'Dance on Broadway,' Mark Lamos's 'A Little Night Music,' Jeff Calhoun's 'Shenandoah,' Bartlett Sher's production of the opera 'Roméo et Juliette' (Salzburg Festival), the film "Clear Blue Tuesday" and "Broadway Under the Stars" (CBS).

Rob Berman (Music Director) is in his fourth season as music director of the Encores! series, where he has conducted 'Bells Are Ringing,' 'Anyone Can Whistle,' 'Fanny,' 'Finian's Rainbow,' 'Music in the Air,' 'Damn Yankees,' 'Applause' and 'Stairway to Paradise,' as well as last season's gala concert celebrating Stephen Sondheim. Broadway conducting credits include 'Finian's Rainbow,' Irving Berlin's 'White Christmas,' 'The Pajama Game,' 'The Apple Tree,'' Wonderful Town' and 'Promises, Promises,' among others. Berman is a two-time Emmy nominee for his work as music director of the Kennedy Center Honors and he won a Helen Hayes Award for Best Musical Direction for his work on the Kennedy Center's production of 'Sunday in the Park with George'. Recently, he was music director for 'A Broadway Celebration: In Performance at the White House.'

New York City Center Encores! has, since 1994, celebrated the rarely heard works of America's most important composers and lyricists. Conceived as concert performances, Encores! gives these scores the chance to be heard as originally intended by their creators. Over the years, Encores! has presented the works of the Gershwins, Rodgers and Hart, Rodgers and Hammerstein, Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, Kurt Weill, Bock and Harnick, Stephen Sondheim, Burt Bacharach, Kander and Ebb, Comden and Green, and many others. The program is the recipient of a special 2000 Tony Honor for Excellence in the Theatre, as well as an Outer Critics Circle Award, Lucille Lortel Award and Jujamcyn Theaters Award.