Burtka Replaces Morrison in Sex Tryout in CA

David Burtka has replaced Matthew Morrison in the Broadway-bound musical version of The Opposite of Sex. As we previously reported, Morrison had to withdraw from the musical's world premiere at San Francisco's Magic Theatre in order to film his part in the Once Upon A Mattress television movie.

"I loved the movie," Burtka told Broadway.com. "I thought it was a fantastic piece. I heard through the grapevine that they were making a musical and I thought, 'How are they going to pull that off?' Then, when I read the script, I realized it was going to be good."

Burtka received a Clarence Derwent Award for promising performer in 2001. His New York theatrical credits include Bad Boy Johnny, Beautiful Thing, The Play About the Baby and the Broadway revival of Gypsy, in which he played Tulsa. He also toured the country in Beauty and the Beast. Burtka was recently featured in the St. Louis MUNY mounting of Meet Me in St. Louis.

In addition to Burtka, the cast of The Opposite of Sex premiere includes Kerry Butler, Karen Ziemba, Jeff McCarthy, John Bolton, Ian Scott McGregor, Joe Mandragona and Donna Vivino.

"I played Kerry's boyfriend in the first reading of the Sweet Valley High musical," Burtka said. "I really admire her work and I think she is a great girl. I can't wait to work with her. We have some stimulating sex scenes under the sheets, so we'll have to be really close. My character sleeps with everyone!"

The Opposite of Sex features music and lyrics by Douglas J. Cohen and a book by Robert Jess Roth and Cohen and is based on Don Roos' screenplay for the 1998 film of the same name. The Opposite of Sex is about a 16-year-old girl Butler with a dead stepfather and an emotionally unstable mother. She decides to make a break for it, moves in with her gay half-brother Bolton and seduces his hot boyfriend Burtka. And that's only the beginning.

The show, directed by Roth Beauty and the Beast, is scheduled to run in San Francisco from September 25 through October 24 before a possible Broadway bow.