Hunter Foster, Malcolm Gets and Jennifer Laura Thompson Lead La Jolla's Little Miss Sunshine

Casting has been announced for the La Jolla Playhouse's musical adaptation of the 2006 film, Little Miss Sunshine. Tony nominee Hunter Foster will star as Richard Hoover alongside Tony nominee Jennifer Laura Thompson as Sheryl Hoover, Tony nominee Malcolm Gets as Frank Ginsberg, Tony winner Dick Latessa as Grandpa, Georgi James as Olive and Taylor Trensch as Dwayne.

The production will run from February 15 through March 27, 2011 and is directed by Tony winner James Lapine, who also wrote the book. Tony winner William Finn composed the score.

Foster can currently be seen on Broadway in Million Dollar Quartet. He received a Tony nomination for Little Shop of Horrors and has also starred in The Porducers, Urinetown and Les Miserables. His other credits include Grease, Footloose, King David, Happiness, Ordinary Days, Frankenstein and Modern Orthodox. He is currently developing the musical Bonnie and Clyde: A Folktale, for which he wrote the book.

Thompson received a Tony nomination for Urinetown. Her other Broadway credits include Footloose, Wicked and Lend Me a Tenor. She has appeared off-Broadway in Little Fish, A Doll's Life, On the Town and Pardon My English.

Gets is best known for his work on Caroline in the City. He received a Tony nomination for Amour and has appeared on Broadway in The Moliere Comedies, Passion and The Story of My Life.

 Latessa can currently be seen in Broadway's Promises, Promises. He is a Tony winner for Hairspray and has also appeared in Cabaret, Proposals, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Damn Yankees, The Will Rogers Follies, Rumors, Broadway Bound, Brighton Beach Memories, Passion and Rags.

Trensch has toured with Spring Awakening and appeared in regional productions of Rabbit Hole, Little Shop of Horrors and The Rocky Horror Show.

James' Broadway credits include Billy Elliot and A Tale of Two Cities.

The ensemble includes Bradley Dean, Carmen Ruby Floyd, Eliso Rman, Andrew Somansky, Sally Wilfert and Zakiya Young. The pageant girls feature local actresses Felicty Bryant, Sophia Delange, Kishka Grantz and Madi Rae DiPietro. The production will feature scenic design by David Korins, costumes by Jennifer Caprio, lighting design by Ken Billington and sound design by Dan Moses Schreier.

Little Miss Sunshine follows the eccentric Hoover family on a cross country roadtrip as their youngest daughter Olive hopes to compete in a beauty pageant. The original film, directed by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris, starred Greg Kinnear, Toni Colette, Steve Carrell, Alan Arkin, Paul Dano and Abigail Breslin. The movie won two Oscars and was nominated for Best Picture.