Stranger Musical From Bruce Hornsby Gets Reading at York Theatre Company

Stranger, a new musical from jazz musician Bruce Hornsby, will receive a reading as part of the York Theatre Company’s developmental readings series. The show features music and lyrics by three-time Grammy winner Hornsby, lyrics by Chip deMatteo and a book by Clay McLeod Chapman. The two readings will take place on March 22 at the Pershing Square Signature Center, directed by Tony winner John Rando (Urinetown). The reading will also feature musical staging by Tony winner Scott Wise (Movin’ Out) and music direction by Kimberly Grigsby (Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark).

The cast of Stranger features Terence Archie (Ragtime), Eugene Barry-Hill (The Magdalene), Lisa Brescia (Mamma Mia!), Ken Cavett (Taking Pictures), John Ellison Conlee (The Fully Monty), Riley Costello (Everyday Rapture), Rosa Curry (The Rocky Horror Show), Charles Franklin, Lance Guest (Million Dollar Quartet), Ron Holgate (Kiss Me, Kate), Rachel Bay Jones (Hair), Garrett Long (Bonnie & Clyde) and Karl Warden (La Cage aux Follies).

Stranger features a family in turmoil that reaches a tipping point when their small town is shaken by the presence of a stranger cruising the streets in an old car. An earlier incarnation of the piece, titled SCKBSTD, received its world premiere at the Virginia Stage Company in Norfolk, VA, in 2011, starring Robert Cuccioli.

Next in the readings series will be the as-yet-uncast musical Guess Who’s Coming to Seder?, featuring book, music and lyrics by Randi Michaels Block, music direction by Bryan L. Wade and direction by Ted Swindley. The series will also include Dirty Little Secret: The Secret Life of Loretta Young by Joan Ross Sorkin and directed by David Glenn Armstrong. The cast features Josh Adam Davis (Les Misérables), Jenn Gambatese (Tarzan), Carly Rose Sonenclar (Wonderland) and Lynne Wintersteller (Closer Than Ever). They will both be performed at The York Theatre at Saint Peter’s.