Tony Winner Beth Leavel Will Join Laura Osnes & Corey Cott in Bandstand on Broadway

Tony winner Beth Leavel will get back into the swing of things and reprise her performance in Bandstand when it transfers to Broadway. Directed and choreographed by Hamilton's Andy Blankenbuehler and starring two-time Tony nominee Laura Osnes and Corey Cott, tickets are now on sale for the Paper Mill Playhouse production, which will begin previews on March 31, 2017. Opening night is scheduled for April 26 at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre.

Along with Leavel (The Drowsy Chaperone) as Mrs. Adams, the company will also include Paper Mill stars Joe Carroll (Cinderella) on drums as Johnny Simpson, Brandon James Ellis (Once) on bass as Davy Zlatic, Nate Hopkins on sax as Jimmy Campbell, Geoff Packard (Matilda) on trombone as Wayne Wright and Joey Pero on trumpet as Nick Radel.

Set in the smoke filled, swing fueled night clubs of 1945, Bandstand brings the against-all-odds story of singer/songwriter Donny Novitski (Cott) and his band of mismatched fellow WWII veterans to the stage. When a national radio contest to find America’s next big swing band offers a chance at instant fame and Hollywood fortune, Donny must whip his wise-cracking gang of jazzers into fighting shape. Teaming up with the beautiful young war widow Julia (Osnes) as their singer, they struggle to confront the lingering effects and secrets of the battlefield that threaten to tear them apart. Playing for every voiceless underdog in a world that has left them behind, they risk everything in the final live broadcast to redefine the meaning of victory. With an explosive original score and choreography inspired by the high energy swing rhythms of the era, Bandstand is a truly American story of love, loss, triumph and the everyday men and women whose personal bravery defined a nation.

With music by Richard Oberacker, and a book and lyrics by Oberacker and Robert Taylor, the original score is strongly influenced by authentic 1940s swing music, much of which is played onstage by the characters and band members.

The Color Purple is currently running at the Jacobs, where it is set to shutter on January 8, 2017.