Regeneration Theatre is excited to announce the cast of
SKYSCRAPER
the first revival [ever] of the 1965 Musical Comedy by
Peter Stone, James Van Heusen and Sammy Cahn,
based on Elmer Rice’s “Dream Girl”
September 7-17, 2017
UrbanStages, 259 West 30th St, New York, NY.Not seen anywhere since its original production closed in June 1966 with Julie Harris, Charles Nelson Reilly, and Peter Marshall, SKYCRAPER is most (in)famous for the pre-opening review during previews by columnist Dorothy Kilgallen (the “Page Six” of her day), but actually received 5 Tony nominations in a Tony year that also included Man of La Mancha, Mame, and Sweet Charity. Not bad going. SKYSCRAPER is a slice of 1960s New York life, featuring the battle of the sexes, the battle of developers against preservationists, and the dreams and hops that the city inspires; themes and challenges that continue to be very recognizable and relevant in New York City today.Erin Soler will be taking on the leading role of Georgina Allerton, originally portrayed by Julie Harris, and will be supported by Brian J Alford as Tim Bushman , and Kenneth Kyle Martinez as Roger Summerhill. Rounding out the leads will be Alex Price (Bert), Bill Morton (Allerton), Lisa Berman (Mrs Allerton), Mario Claudio (Stanley), and Kalia Lay (Charlotte), and an ensemble featuring Jeff Van Damme, AJ Hunsecker, Rebecca Frazier, Janice Engelgau, Sarah Treanor, Mark Blowers. Kristen Keim will be co-directing with Barnaby Edwards and Kristen will also be choreographing the production, which will feature musical direction by Daniel Lincoln, which will feature new arrangements highlighting the style of the time in which it was written and Van Heusen and Cahn’s close relationship with the style and songs of Frank Sinatra.The show runs at UrbanStages, 259 West 30th Street, New York, with performances from Sept 7-Sept 17, with tickets available at http://regeneration.brownpapertickets.com priced $30.
We spoke with the founder of Regeneration
and the arbiter of this musical unveiling this fall
Barnaby Edwards.
What inspires you as an artist/entrepreneur … and how does it correlate to your decision making when choosing venues, festivals, performance runs, etc.
Barnaby: I relish the challenge of putting a show together and of bringing together people together to collaborate. With the mission of Regeneration Theatre being to take a second look at neglected pieces, which Skyscraper certainly is, and to build a community where artists can develop and take chances, the venue and location usually come secondary to determining the pieces we want to do. Having decided on Skyscraper and Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean for our autumn shows, both were of a scale where a residency was needed, rather than the repertory rapid on and off style of a festival production. Urban Stages and the Workshop Theatre fit the bill well for both pieces. As a musical, Skyscraper has its own set of challenges, with a full chorus, large scale dance numbers and several set pieces
How does independent theater play into realizing ultimate goals?
Barnaby: While many of the festivals focus on new work, many of which need to have a fast turnaround due to the nature of the festival circuit, I find that doing things independently, while more work, provides more time to explore. This is especially true with older pieces that have not been seen for a long time and which few people are familiar with. In the instance of Skyscraper particularly, there are very few people around to ask about the original production, since it was over 50 years ago and many of them are sadly no longer with us. This gives a certain level of freedown, but extra time is needed to ensure we do the piece justice.
The ultimate goal of Regeneration Theatre is to breathe new life into lesser know work and give our community of creatives and performers the best opportunity to shine, so having more control is really essential to that, enabling us to put on the best evening at the theatre our resources will allow.
OUTER-STAGE 