Terrence Mann & Julia Murney Join Cast of Upcoming Lennon Musical

Broadway.com has learned that Terrence Mann and Julia Murney will appear in the upcoming Broadway musical Lennon. They join Will Chase, Chuck Cooper, Julie Danao, Mandy Gonzalez, Marcy Harriell, Chad Kimball and Michael Potts, who are now all set for the tuner.

"I was actually named after a John Lennon song, 'Julia'--[which is] on The Beatles' White Album and was written for his late mother--and was very much brought up on the music of John and the Beatles, so you could say that he's always been a part of my life," Murney told Broadway.com. "I have worked with a number of people in the cast and have admired them all from afar, so it's a very exciting prospect to be working with them, and I've known the director, Don Scardino, since I was a kid. It all is a very nice combo platter, indeed."

Ken Mandelbaum mentioned Mann and Murney for the cast on December 10. Mann earned a 1987 Best Actor in a Musical Tony nomination for his performance in Les Miserables. His other Broadway credits include Barnum, Cats, Scarlet Pimpernel, Getting Away with Murder, Rags, Jerome Robbins Broadway, Beauty and the Beast which netted him his second Tony nomination and The Rocky Horror Show. He last appeared on the New York stage this fall in the Flea Theater production of Anne Nelson's The Guys.

Murney is best known for her Drama Desk-nominated turn in the Manhattan Theatre Club production of Andrew Lippa's The Wild Party. She also appeared off-Broadway in A Class Act, Time and Again, Crimes of the Heart and First Lady Suite. Lennon will mark her Broadway debut. Before the musical, she will be seen in the play Arrangements, running January 12 through January 30 at Atlantic Theater Company's developmental Atlantic 453 space.

Written and directed by Don Scardino, all of the actors in Lennon portray John Lennon at different points in his life. When the show was going to feature 10 actors, Bombay Dreams hero Manu Narayan was expected to be a part of the production, but now only nine actors will be featured. Approximately 30 of Lennon's songs will be featured in the musical including "Imagine," "Instant Karma," "Give Peace a Chance," "Working Class Hero," and "Whatever Gets You Through the Night." The show will also feature three unpublished songs by Lennon "India, India" and "I Don't Want to Lose You," neither of which were ever published, and "Cookin' in the Kitchen of Love," which was recorded by Ringo Starr in 1976, but never by Lennon himself.

Lennon is being produced by Allan McKeown, Don Scardino and Edgar Lansbury, by arrangement with Yoko Ono. The musical's design team includes John Arnone sets, Jane Greenwood costumes and Natasha Katz lighting.

The musical is scheduled to begin previews at Broadway's Broadhurst Theatre on July 7. Prior to hitting New York, the show will play at the Orpheum Theatre in San Francisco from April 12 through May 14 and the Colonial Theatre in Boston from May 31 through June 25.