Brent Barrett to Play Hannibal Lecter in Parody Tuner Silence! The Musical

He has played Billy Flynn and the Phantom of the Opera, and now Broadway vet Brent Barrett will take on the role of serial killer Hannibal Lecter in Silence! The Musical, described as “unauthorized parody” of The Silence of the Lambs. Jenn Harris will co-star as FBI agent Clarice Starling in an off-Broadway mounting of the show, which is set to run June 24-August 13 at 80 St. Marks Place, directed and choreographed by Christopher Gattelli.

Joining Barrett and Harris will be Stephen Bienskie (Cats), Harry Bouvy (Spamalot in Las Vegas), Deidre Goodwin (A Chorus Line, Chicago), Jeff Hiller (Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson), Howard Kaye (Miss Saigon) and Alysha Umphress (American Idiot).

Silence! The Musical features a book by Tony nominee Hunter Bell ([title of show]) and music and lyrics by Jon and Al Kaplan. The show began as a collection of songs that became popular on the internet, then a screenplay by the Kaplans that was adapted for the stage by Bell. Silence! was named Best Musical at the 2005 Fringe Festival and was successfully produced in London last season.

In the Academy Award-winning film The Silence of the Lambs, rookie FBI agent Clarice Starling matches wits with the brilliant but insane cannibal, Dr. Hannibal Lecter, to catch the serial killer known only as Buffalo Bill. Clarice must face her own demons and race the clock to unlock Lecter’s clues before another innocent girl is killed and skinned by Bill. In the musical version, the action is narrated by a singing chorus of floppy-eared lambs and Buffalo Bill dances a hoedown while kidnapping hapless Catherine Martin.

Barrett is currently playing Billy Flynn in Chicago and has appeared on Broadway in Annie Get Your Gun, Grand Hotel, West Side Story and Candide. He received an Olivier Award nomination for his performance in the London company of Kiss Me, Kate and played a two-year stint in the title role of Phantom – The Las Vegas Spectacular.

Harris received a Lucille Lortel Award for her performance in Modern Orthodox. Her other off-Broadway credits include New Jerusalem and The Understudy, and she is a frequent guest star at Joe’s Pub: Our Hit Parade.

Silence! will feature musical direction by Mark Hartman, with arrangements and orchestrations by Brian J. Nash. The show is being produced Off-Broadway by Victoria Lang, Rich Affannato and Donna Trinkoff.