Also toplining the Broadway-aimed musical by Richard Maltby Jr. and David Shire (Big; Baby; Starting Here, Starting Now) are Thom Sesma (The Times They are A-Changin’, Man of La Mancha), J. Elaine Marcos (Annie; Priscilla: Queen of the Desert) and Thai pop singer Sukrit "Bie" Wisetkaew, who rose to fame on the Thai television talent contest "The Star."
Waterfall will officially open June 7.
Based on the Thai novel "Behind the Painting" by Sriburapha, the new musical is directed by Tak Viravan, who also staged an earlier musical incarnation of the novel in Thailand.
The team has been workshopping the musical over the past two years. A February 2014 lab production in New York City starred Sierra Boggess. The creative team has since changed the name of the property to Waterfall.
Waterfall has book and lyrics by Tony Award winner Richard Maltby Jr. (Ain’t Misbehavin’, Miss Saigon) and music by Oscar winner and two-time Tony Award nominee David Shire (Baby, Big). Tony nominee Dan Knechtges (Xanadu) choreographs. After Pasadena the show is set for a fall run at the 5th Avenue Theatre in Seattle, with a possible fall 2016 Broadway premiere to follow.
According to the creators, "Waterfall is an epic love story, set in Bangkok and Tokyo between the turbulent years of 1933 and 1939, as a monarchy falls in Thailand and Japan is on the brink of war. A young Thai student falls in love with the American wife of a Thai diplomat, and the story of their forbidden love parallels history as the new democracy of Siam moves into the vortex of the increasingly anti-American Japan. With a gloriously romantic score, Waterfall is a modern love story of timeless scale."
The musical will be produced on Broadway by Scenario Company Ltd. and Jack M. Dalgleish.
The Pasadena Playhouse is located at 39 South El Molino Avenue, Pasadena, CA. Performances will be given Tuesday through Friday at 8 PM; Saturday at 4 and 8 PM, and Sunday at 2 and 7 PM. Tickets cost $47 to $87 and are available online at PasadenaPlayhouse.org, by calling The Pasadena Playhouse at (626) 356-7529, or visiting The Pasadena Playhouse Box Office.
