Scandalous: Candy Buckley completes cast

Candy Buckley completes the cast of the up-coming Broadway musical Scandalous: The Life and Trials of Aimee Semple McPherson.

Buckley has been cast in the role of 'Minnie Kennedy,' Aimee's headstrong and independent mother.

Buckley's Broadway credits: 'After The Fall,' 'Thoroughly Modern Millie,' 'Ring Round the Moon' and 'Cabaret.' Off-Broadway credits include 'Shockheaded Peter,' 'Defying Gravity,' 'The Petrified Prince,' 'Communicating Doors,' 'Two Noble Kinsmen,' 'Valhalla,' 'Bernarda Alba' and 'Knives and Other Sharp Objects.'

She joins the previously announced leading lady and two-time Tony Award nominee Carolee Carmello (Parade, Lestat) as 'Aimee Semple McPherson,' and two-time Tony Award winner George Hearn ('Sunset Boulevard,' 'La Cage aux Folles') in the dual roles of 'James Kennedy' and 'Brother Bob.'

The principal cast will also include Andrew Samonsky in the dual roles of 'Harold McPherson,' Aimee's second husband; and 'Kenneth Ormiston,' the sound engineer hired by Aimee to produce her radio show during the height of her nationwide evangelic superstardom. Edward Watts in the dual roles of 'Robert Semple,' the firey Irish evangelist from the early twentieth century who becomes Aimee's first husband; and 'David Hutton,' a charming Los Angeles actor who becomes Aimee's third husband during the height of her nationwide celebrity, and Roz Ryan as'Emma Jo Schaeffer,' the tough talking, no nonsense madame of a brothel who befriends Aimee early in her ministry and becomes a constant fixture in her life for years to come.

The ensemble will feature Nick Cartell, Joseph Dellger, Erica Dorfler, Carlos L. Encinias, Hannah Florence, Corey Greenan, Benjamin Howes, Karen Hyland, Alison Luff, Jesse Nager, Sam Strasfeld, Betsy Struxness, Elizabeth Ward Land, Billie Wildrick, Dan'yelle Williamson and Matt Wolfe.

With book and lyrics by Kathie Lee Gifford and music by David Pomeranz and David Friedman, Scandalous will open at the Neil Simon Theatre on 15 Nov 2012, following previews from 13 Oct 2012.

Directed by David Armstrong, scandalous is based on the life of Aimee Semple McPherson (1890-1944), the world's first media superstar evangelist - a woman whose passion for saving souls equaled her passion for making sensational headlines and attracting overflow crowds of thousands throughout the world. Time Magazine named Aimee Semple McPherson one the most influential people of the twentieth century.

Set in 1920's Los Angeles, holiness collides with Hollywood in this extraordinary tale of one remarkable woman's charismatic rise to fame amidst scandalous love affairs and growing controversy, inevitably ending in her much-publicized fall from grace.

With choreography by Lorin Latarro and musical direction by Joel Fram, Scandalous features scenic design by Walt Spangler, costume design by Gregory A. Poplyk, lighting design by Natasha Katz and sound design by Ken Travis.

Scandalous: The Life and Trials of Aimee Semple McPherson is produced by Dick and Betsy DeVos, Foursquare Foundation and Jeffrey Finn, Executive Producer, in association with The 5th Avenue Theatre (David Armstrong, Executive Producer and Artistic Director; Bernadine Griffin, Managing Director; Bill Berry, Producing Director).