Michael Cerveris and Donna Murphy to Headline Bway's LoveMusik in Spring '07
Tony winners Michael Cerveris and Donna Murphy will headline LoveMusik on Broadway this spring under the guidance of legendary director Harold Prince. The Manhattan Theatre Club presents the world premiere of the musical, which features the songs of Kurt Weill and a book by Tony and Pulitzer winner Alfred Uhry, as the final entry of the 2006-2007 season at the Biltmore Theatre. The tuner will start performances on April 12, 2007. Opening night is set for May 3, 2007.
LoveMusik follows the lives of the unlikeliest of lovers—the brilliant, intellectual German composer Kurt Weill Cerveris and a lusty girl from the streets of Vienna who became his muse and star, Lotte Lenya Murphy. It is an epic romance, set in Berlin, Paris, Broadway and Hollywood, spanning 25 years in the lives of this complicated couple. The musical is based on Speak Low When You Speak Love, The Letters of Kurt Weill and Lotte Lenya. It is edited and translated by Lys Symonette and Kim H. Kowalke.
Murphy was honored with 2004 Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle and Astaire Awards and the Drama League Award for Outstanding Achievement in Musical Theater; and a Tony nomination for her performance as Ruth Sherwood in Wonderful Town. She received Tony, Drama Desk and Drama League Awards for her performance as Fosca in Passion. She also garnered Tony and Drama League Awards for her performance as Anna in The King and I Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle nominations. Her other Broadway credits include The Mystery of Edwin Drood, The Human Comedy and They're Playing Our Song. Cerveris and Murphy appeared together in a special benefit concert of Passion in October 2004.
LoveMusik will also star David Pittu as Bertolt Brecht and John Scherer as George Davis. Pittu is currently appearing in Lincoln Center's The Coast of Utopia and previously appeared on Broadway in Never Gonna Dance. His other credits include The Fourth Wall, The Butter and Egg Man, the Kennedy Center's Company and Leo Frank in Parade, directed by Prince. Scherer worked with Prince on the world premiere of 3hree at the Prince Music Theatre. His Broadway credits include By Jeeves and Sunset Boulevard. He also appeared in the national tours of Cats and 42nd Street and off-Broadway in Olympus on My Mind and Dames at Sea.
The full creative team and additional casting will be announced at a later date.
