Ana Gasteyer, Carolee Carmello, Adriane Lenox & More Set for First Wives Club Reading

Ana Gasteyer Wicked, Saturday Night Live, Carolee Carmello Mamma, Mia!, Parade and Adriane Lenox Tony winner for Doubt, Caroline, or Change will play the avenging ex-es in a February 2 reading of the new musical First Wives Club. The ladies will be joined by Brad Oscar The Producers, Jekyll & Hyde, Alton Fitzgerald White The Lion King, Ragtime, John Dossett The Constant Wife, Gypsy, Sam Harris The Producers, The Life and Sara Chase Godspell at Paper Mill Playhouse, directed by Francesca Zambello.

First Wives Club is scheduled to have a pre-Broadway run at San Diego’s Old Globe Theatre July 15-August 23. A press announcement noted that the cast members for the February 2 reading, to be held in New York, have not been signed for the summertime production of the musical, saying only that “the cast for the fully staged production will be announced soon.” The musical will be produced on Broadway by Paul Lambert and Jonas Neilson, with a theater and dates to be announced.

Based on Olivia Goldsmith's best-selling novel and 1996 feature film, First Wives Club will feature a book by Rupert Holmes Curtains, The Mystery of Edwin Drood and a score by the legendary Motown trio of Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier and Eddie Holland, composers of such hits as “Where Did Our Love Go?,” “Baby Love,” “Stop! In The Name of Love” and “How Sweet It Is to Be Loved By You.”

First Wives Club centers on three divorced women who unite to turn their lives around for the better after being cast aside by their husbands for younger girlfriends. Gasteyer will play the role created on film by Bette Midler, Lenox has been cast in the role created by Goldie Hawn and Carmello takes on the role created by Diane Keaton.

Other members of the creative and design team for First Wives Club include Lisa Stevens choreographer, Ron Melrose music director, Harold Wheeler orchestrations, Zane Mark dance arrangements, Peter J. Davidson sets, Catherine Zuber costumes and Mark McCullough lighting.