Brandi Burkhardt, Robert Torti, Marissa Jaret Winokur & More Set for Reading of Sleepless in Seattle Musical

Broadway vet Brandi Burkhardt (A Tale of Two Cities, Mamma Mia!) and Tony nominee Robert Torti (Starlight Express, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat) will headline a September 19 developmental reading of Sleepless in Seattle: The Musical at Pasadena Playhouse, where the show will have its official premiere beginning June 12, 2012. Joel Zwick directs the reading at the California theater, which will also feature the previously reported Marissa Jaret Winokur.

In addition to Burkhardt (as heroine Annie), Winokur (as best friend Becky) and Torti (as widower Sam), the reading will feature Christopher Jones as Sam’s son, Jonah, plus Lindsey Alley (Irene, Dr. Marica Fieldstone, Shoshanna, Woman in Pea Coat), Michael Andrew Baker 9Walter), Brian Beacock (Security Screener, Eric, Dr. Marcia Feildstone Singer, Wyatt, Operator #3, Maitre'D, Waiter), Darrin Glesser (Dennis, Dr. Marcia Fieldstone Singer, Keith, Gay Guy, Operator #2, Woman Who Is Not A Woman), Rebecca Ann Johnson (Betsy, Dr. Marcia Fieldstone Singer, Sex Kitten, Victoria), Janice Lynde (Eleanor, Jewish Mother, Deborah Kerr, Woman in Ski Jacket), Kristofer McNeeley (Greg, Operator #4), Jane Noseworthy (Maggie, Suzy, Dr. Marcia Fieldstone Singer, Mormon Wife), Barry Pearl (Minister, Cliff, Operator #1, Cary Grant, Ernie) and Jay Brian Winnick (Rob). The reading cast will not necessarily appear in the June 2012 production of the show, which is eyeing a Broadway transfer.

Sleepless in Seattle features a score by Michelle Citrin, Michael Garin and Josh Nelson and a book by Jeff Arch, who received an Oscar nomination for co-writing the screenplay for the 1993 hit comedy starring Meg Ryan, Tom Hanks and Rosie O’Donnell. The show centers on Sam, a Seattle widower whose young son convinces him to discuss his grief on a radio talk show. Women from around the country are touched by his broadcast, including Annie, a Baltimore newspaper reporter, who writes to Sam and suggests they meet at the top of the Empire State Building.