Alice Ripley to Be Joined by Nicholas Rodriguez & More in Sunset Boulevard at North Shore Music Theatre
(Photos: Emilio Madrid-Kuser for Broadway.com | Getty Images)
Casting is complete for North Shore Music Theatre's upcoming staging of the Tony-winning musical Sunset Boulevard. The previously announced production, starring Tony winner Alice Ripley as Norma Desmond, will run from September 24 through October 6 at the Beverly, Massachusetts theater.
Joining Ripley in the cast will be Nicholas Rodriguez (Tarzan) as Joe Gillis, William Michals (South Pacific) as Max Von Mayerling and Lizzie Klemperer (School of Rock) as Betty Schaefer, the role originated by Ripley in the original 1994 Broadway production.
The cast will also include Kevin Massey (A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder) as Artie Green and Neal Mayer (Les Misérables) as Cecil B. DeMille, with an ensemble comprising Brittany Baratz, Kyle Braun, Michael Brennan, Ashley Chasteen, Bobby Conte, Christopher DeProphetis, Andrew Giordano, Victoria Huston-Elem, Eleni Kontos, Jesse Michels, Melissa Mitchell, Alfie Parker, Ellen Peterson, Robert Saoud, Kelsey Schergen, Domenic Servidio, Cecilia Snow, Chris Stevens, Michael Yeshion and Janelle Yull.
The production will be directed and choreographed by Kevin P. Hill, with music direction by Milton Granger, scenic design by Kyle Dixon, costume coordination by Kelly Baker, lighting design by Jose Santiago and sound design by Daryl Bornstein.
Based on Billy Wilder's 1950 film and featuring music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and book/lyrics by Don Black and Christopher Hampton, Sunset Boulevard centers on faded, silent-screen star Norma Desmond (Ripley), who lives in a fantasy world. Soon, an impoverished screenwriter named Joe Gillis (Rodriguez) stumbles into her reclusive domain and is persuaded to work on the film script that she believes will put her back in front of the cameras. He is seduced by her and her luxurious lifestyle. Entrapped in a claustrophobic existence, his love for another woman (Klemperer) leads him to try to break free of Norma's web, but with dramatic consequences.
