Gardner and Hoty to Star in Transport Group Musical The Audience

Musical theater favorites Rita Gardner and Dee Hoty will headline the Transport Group premiere of The Audience, a new musical about an audience watching a Broadway musical. The production, conceived and directed by artistic director Jack Cummings III, plays March 31 through April 23 at The Connelly Theatre.

Gardner is best known for appearing as Luisa or, The Girl in the original company of the off-Broadway long-runner The Fantasticks. She made her Broadway debut in 1962 in A Family Affair and spent the next decade working steadily in Pal Joey, Ben Franklin in Paris, On a Clear Day You Can See Forever, Last of the Red Hot Lovers and Ari. She returned to the Broadway stage in 2002 as part of the company of Morning's at Seven. Off-Broadway, Gardner appeared off-Broadway in The Cradle Will Rock, To Be Young, Gifted and Black, Steel Magnolias, Wings and the recent Roundabout Theatre production of The Foreigner, where she understudied the role of Betty Meeks.

Hoty has earned three Tony Award nominations for Best Little Whorehouse Goes Public, Will Rogers Follies and Footloose. Her other Broadway credits include City of Angels, Me & My Girl, Big River, The Five O'Clock Girl and Mamma Mia!. Her off-Broadway credits include Personals and Forbidden Broadway. She also starred in the national tour of Will Rogers Follies, for which she earned a Joseph Jefferson Award.

The Audience is the work of 30 different writers, who all contributed to pieces of the book, music and lyrics. Among them are Steven Alper The Immigrant, Jeff Blumenkrantz Urban Cowboy, Joe Calarco R&J, Mark Campbell Splendora, Fiddler on the Roof star John Cariani whose play Almost, Maine recently premiered in Maine, Brian Crawley Violet, The Little Princess, Lewis Flinn Music from a Sparkling Planet, Mondo Drama, Jennifer Gibbs, James Hindman Pete ‘n' Keely, Sarah Knapp The Immigrant, Tom Kochan Psycho Beach Party, Michael John LaChiusa First Lady Suite, Marie Christine, The Wild Party, Little Fish , Michele Lowe The Smell of the Kill and Cheryl Stern That's Life!. With simultaneous storylines and original songs, the show tells the story of one vibrant group of theatergoers who venture to a Broadway theater one rainy Saturday night to see a new contemporary American musical. The curtain rises on a pair of ushers stuffing programs. Soon, the house opens and the audience members gradually enter and take their seats.

In addition to Hoty and Gardner, the 46 member company of The Audience includes Broadway veterans like Leslie Alexander, Barbara Andres, Mary Ellen Ashley, Caroline Bootle, John Braden, Donna Lynne Champlin, Jack Donahue, Robert DuSold, Thursday Farrar, Eamon Foley, MaryAnn Hu, Tina Johnson, Herndon Lackey, Sondra Lee, Tom Ligon, Kim Lindsay, Rosemary Loar, Sean MacLaughlin, Gerry McIntyre, Michele Ragusa, Celia Tackaberry, Yuka Takara, Natalie Toro and Craig Wells.