Tboy hears that Andrew Long, who's been busy on the musical stage lately -- in Signature Theatre's My Fair Lady and Olney Theatre Center's Oliver -- will soon be busier yet.
Long, it seems, has withdrawn from Theater J's world premiere of the Holocaust drama Either, Or, by Schindler's List author Thomas Keneally, to claim a part in another high-profile project: Saving Aimee, the world-premiere Kathie Lee Gifford musical that opens at Signature in April.
He'll play one of the three husbands of celebrity evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson. Signature recently announced that two-time Tony Award nominee Carolee Carmello (at left) will star as McPherson. Carmello workshopped the part with director Eric Schaeffer in New York back as far back as 2004.
Though he's branched out in recent years, Long made his name in Washington primarily at the Shakespeare Theatre Company. He starred opposite Dixie Carter and Tessa Auberjonois (pictured with Long, below right) in the acclaimed STC production of Lady Windermere's Fan in 2005.
(Tboy also recalls that Long once showered entirely naked onstage, in a kind of damp dream ballet, midway through the legendary Joe Calarco Midsummer -- which, as the wags like to recall, blew the Shakespeare's annual budget. On the fabrics alone. Never mind the giant chandelier sunk in a body of water in the middle of the stage.)
Long has been with the Keneally project -- about an SS officer whose conscience moves him to "sabotage shipments of Zyklon B and alert the Vatican about the atrocities to which he bears witness," according to the Theater J website -- for a while now.
He workshopped the play at the Kennedy Center's Page to Stage Festival last September, and word has it he turned down several other projects before the Signature offer came along.
(Speaking of Signature casting, which seems decidedly newsy lately: Tboy hears there are big names attached to The Witches of Eastwick. But Signature hasn't announced yet -- and so far Tboy's only got one source willing to name those names for him. Anybody care to be the second?)
The good news for Theater J is that, with an accomplished, committed cast of ten already in place, we've been able to move Paul Morella--who was to have played brother Franz Gerstein--into the lead role of Kurt Gerstein. Other superb members of the ensemble include Ralph Cosham, John Lescault, Conrad Feiniger, Meghan Grady, Elizabeth Richards, Clay Steakley, Parker Dixon, and John Michael MacDonald. Andrew Long contributed enormously to the development of the script this summer and I know he was keen to continue in the role. But the offer he received was too seductive to pass up. We do wish him well.
Posted by: Ari Roth | Thursday, 08 February 2007 at 18:43
And for those of you counting at home, the tenth member of our illustrious "Either, Or" ensemble is the newest member of our cast, John Dow. Best for last!
Posted by: Ari Roth | Thursday, 08 February 2007 at 19:54
This was up on playbill.com Wednesday, but I haven't heard anything else...
Marc Kudisch to Star in American Premiere of Witches of Eastwick
http://www.playbill.com/news/article/105542.html
Posted by: Elissa Goetschius | Friday, 09 February 2007 at 11:08