Kacie Sheik & More to Star in February House at The Public Theater

Casting has been announced for February House, the new musical inspired by a real life artistic commune that fostered some of America’s greatest talents. Davis McCallum directs the piece, with music and lyrics by Gabriel Kahane and a book by Seth Bockley. Performances begin May 8 at off-Broadway's Public Theater.

The musical will feature Julian Fleisher as George Davis, Stanley Bahorek as Benjamin Britton, Kacie Sheik as Gypsy Rose Lee, Erik Lochtefeld as W.H. Auden and Kristen Sieh as Carson McCullers, Ken Barnett as Peter Pears, Ken Clark as Reeves McCullers, Stephanie Hayes as Erika Mann and A.J. Shively as Chester Kallman. The entire cast is reprising their roles from a recent engagement at the Long Wharf Theatre.

In 1940s New York, visionary and flamboyant editor George Davis transformed a dilapidated Brooklyn boardinghouse into a bohemian commune for artistic icons like Carson McCullers, Benjamin Britten, W.H. Auden and Gypsy Rose Lee. The residents of 7 Middagh Street create a tumultuous and remarkable makeshift family searching for love, inspiration, and refuge from the looming war in Europe.

Bahorek appeared on Broadway in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. His Off-Broadway credits include Queen of the Mist and See Rock City. Barnett appeared on Broadway in Wonderful Town and Julie Taymor’s The Green Bird, and his Off-Broadway credits include Manon/Sandra, La Ronde and Debbie Does Dallas. Clark has appeared in the national tour of La Cage Aux Folles and regionally in Urinetown, Guys and Dolls, Sweeney Todd, and Rent.

Fleisher’s off-Broadway credits include the world premiere of Coraline and he has composed original music for the John Cariani’s off-Broadway play Almost, Maine. Hayes’ stage credits at the Yale School of Drama include The Seagull, Eurydice, Much Ado About Nothing, Homebody/Kabul and Orestes. Lochtefeld has appeared on Broadway in Metamorphoses and off-Broadway in The Notebooks of Leonardo Da Vinci.

Sheik has appeared in the Shakespeare in the Park, Broadway, West End, and national tour productions of The Public’s revival of Hair. Her screen credits include Julie & Julia and Law & Order. Shively appeared in the recent Broadway revival of La Cage Aux Folles. His other theater credits include The Plant That Ate Dirty Socks, The Sound of Music, Brigadoon and Things to Ruin. Sieh has been seen on the New York stage in Gatz, The Sound and the Fury (April Seventh, 1928), Shuffle, Architecting, An Oak Tree, Saint Joan of the Stockyards and The Women of Lockerbie.

February House will feature scenic design by Riccardo Hernandez, costume design by Jess Goldstein, lighting design by Mark Barton and sound design by Leon Rothenberg.