Casting has just been announced for the 13th Street Rep's forthcoming production of ASCAP Award-winning playwright/director Chip Deffaa's new show "The Irving Berlin Ragtime Revue." The show, which opens November 9th, will be the third production of Deffaa's to play this year at the 13th Street Theater (50 W. 13th Street, NYC, www.13thstreetrep.org); the others are Deffaa's "One Night with Fanny Brice" and "Theater Boys," playing in repertory at the theater this fall.
"The Irving Berlin Ragtime Revue" will feature Matt ZanFagna, Hannah DeFlumeri, Michael Czyz, Maite Uzal, Michael Kasper, Rachel Hundert, Jonah Barricklo, Emily Bordonaro, Ken Adams, Missy Dreier, K.W. Andersson; with swings and alternates including Chloe Brooks, Danny Coelho, Jenna Barricklo, Philip Louis Calabro, Ben Orlando, Mark Andrew Garner.
Music director
Richard Danley, co-choreographers Alex Acevedo and Tyler DuBoys, and assistant director Peter Charney, who've served on Deffaa's "
Irving Berlin's America" and "Theater Boys," will return for this production, according to the theater's producing artistic director, Sandra Nordgren. She is producing the show, with the assistance of Matt Carlson.
"It's a hand-picked cast," Deffaa says. "About half our cast members were in the original reading of this show last year:
Emily Bordonaro, Michael Kasper, Missy Dreier, Rachel Hundert, Chloe Brooks. Others have been in other shows of mine or on recordings of mine, before, such as K. W. Andersson,
Matt ZanFagna, Danny Coelho, Philip Louis Calabro, Ben Orlando, Mark Andrew Garner. I found others-such as the spirited Jonah and
Jenna Barricklo--through auditions or through recommendations of respected industry pro's such as
Thommie Retter and Jody Prusan. But traditional auditions are gradually giving way to other ways of finding talent. For example, I first became aware of Hannah DeFlumeri when
Andrew Keenan-Bolger recommended a YouTube video of her performing; I was instantly won over by her voice and by her verve, before ever having a chance to hear her 'live.' That YouTube video of her was, in effect, her audition."
The 13th Street Repertory Theater had such a successful run with Deffaa's previous show about Berlin, "
Irving Berlin's America," co-starring
Giuseppe Bausilio and
Michael Townsend Wright, that the theater's founder/artistic director, 97-year-old Edith O'Hara, gave Deffaa the green-light to present other shows about Berlin. This is the second of five shows, examining Berlin's legacy from different perspectives, that Deffaa intends to present at the 13th Street Rep. "Berlin was the most successful songwriter in history," Deffaa says. "This show will focus on his early years-the ragtime era. We'll offer the rollicking songs that first put him on the map-some still famous today, other lesser-known gems due for a rediscovery. We'll sing some songs that have never been recorded!"
The author of eight published books dealing with music and popular culture, and 15 published plays, dealing mostly with giants of American show business, Deffaa has been researching Berlin's life for seven years. "We'll pack 40 Berlin songs into a fast-moving show. It's going to be a lot of fun!"
