Casting Complete for Arena Stage Carousel | Playbill

News Casting Complete for Arena Stage Carousel Molly Smith will direct the Rodgers and Hammerstein classic.
Kate Rockwell Monica Simoes
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Nicholas Rodriguez
Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater in Washington, DC has announced the complete company for the upcoming production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Carousel, which will be presented October 28-December 24 on the in-the-round Fichandler Stage.

Directed by artistic director Molly Smith, the limited engagement will have musical direction by Paul Sportelli and choreography by Parker Esse.

The cast includes the previously announced Nicholas Rodriguez (Arena’s My Fair Lady, Oklahoma!) as Billy Bigelow, E. Faye Butler (Arena’s Pullman Porter Blues, Oklahoma!) as Mrs. Mullin and Ann Arvia (Golde in Arena’s Fiddler on the Roof) as Nettie Fowler. Betsy Morgan (Broadway’s The King and I, Les Misérables) will make her Arena Stage debut as Julie Jordan, alongside the previously announced Kate Rockwell (Broadway’s Rock of Ages, Bring It On: The Musical, Legally Blonde) portraying Julie’s pal, Carrie Pipperidge.

Carousel also features the return of Arena Stage veterans Kurt Boehm (Arena’s Born for This, Fyedka in Fiddler on the Roof) as Enoch Snow and Kyle Schliefer (Arena’s Oliver!, Fiddler on the Roof) as Jigger Craigin, and welcomes the debut of Skye Mattox (Broadway’s West Side Story, On The Town) as Louise Bigelow.

The large cast also includes Jacob Beasley as Enoch Snow, Jr., Rayanne Gonzales as Mrs. Bascombe, Michael Graceffa as Carnival Boy, Thomas Adrian Simpson as David Bascombe and Stephawn Stephens as Captain. In the roles of the Starkeeper and Heavenly Friend, the company features two young local actors—13-year-old Nicole Wildy of Howard County, MD, and 15-year-old Joshua Otten of Fauquier County, VA.

Rounding out the ensemble are Gracie Jones, Danielle Sue Jordan, Ethan Kasnett, Emma Sophie Moore, Tony Neidenbach (dance captain), Bridget Riley, Paul Scanlan, Jessica Wu and Phil Young, with swings Katie Arthur and Jay Westin and Heavenly Friend/Starkeeper understudy Isabella Brody.

Carousel, which has music by Richard Rodgers and book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, “follows Billy Bigelow and Julie Jordan through their journey of love, loss and redemption.” The musical features such classics as “If I Loved You,” “June Is Bustin’ Out All Over” and “You’ll Never Walk Alone.”

The creative team for this production includes aforementioned music director Sportelli, who has created new arrangements for the 13-piece orchestra that will be seen on a visible, elevated level of the set; set designer Todd Rosenthal; fight choreographer (and mime) David Leong, lighting designer Keith Parham, costume designer Ilona Somogyi and sound designers Joshua Horvath and Ray Nardelli.

Tickets may be purchased online at arenastage.org, by phone at (202) 488-3300 or at the sales office at 1101 Sixth St., SW, DC.

 
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