Matthew James Thomas & Derek Klena Return to New Production of Sheryl Crow's Broadway-Aimed Diner

We now have casting for the previously reported Delaware incarnation of the Sheryl Crow-Barry Levinson musical Diner! Matthew James Thomas (Pippin) and Derek Klena (Wicked) are back as Fenwick and Boogie, respectively, after playing the roles in the show's world premiere at Virginia’s Signature Theatre. This new production will run December 2 through December 27 at the Delaware Theatre Company in Wilmington, Delaware.

The company will also include the return of Aaron Finley as Billy, along with Noah Weisberg as Shrevie (instead of Josh Grisetti), Ari Brand as Eddie (instead of Adam Kantor) and Ethan Slater as Modell (instead of Bryan Fenkart). Rounding out the cast will be Jacqueline Beatrice Arnold, John E. Brady, Matt Dengler, Nate Golden, Joshua Franklin, Erika Henningsen, Anne Horak, John Leone, Brynn O'Malley, Stephanie Martignetti, Jenna Pastuszek, Jonathan Shew, Tess Soltau and Curtis Wiley.

Based on Levinson’s 1982 film, with direction and choreography by Kathleen Marshall, a book by Levinson and music and lyrics by Crow, Diner tells the story of burgeoning adulthood and friendship. Christmas, Baltimore: 1959. A circle of childhood friends reunite for the upcoming wedding of one of them. Well, only if his fiancée passes a football trivia test. From the comfort of their all-night diner, the men, now in their early-twenties, confront the realities of adulthood: marriage, careers, money and the ever-mysterious opposite sex. But no matter where life takes them, they know they’re welcome back at the diner, the one place they’ll always belong.

The tuner was initially Broadway-bound; this second engagement suggests Diner is once again aimed at the Great White Way.