James Barbour, who headlined Broadway's Jane Eyre, and Derek Keeling, one of the finalists of TV's Grease: You're the One That I Want, have landed the leading roles of Sydney Carton and Charles Darnay, respectively, in the pre-Broadway engagement of A Tale of Two Cities. Joining them as Lucie Manette, the woman they both love, is newcomer Jessica Rush. The new musical, featuring music, lyrics and a book by Jill Santoriello, will start performances on October 13 at the Asolo Repertory Theatre in Sarasota, Florida.
Also cast in the show, directed by Michael Donald Edwards, is Natalie Toro as Madame Defarge, Joe Cassidy as Ernest DeFarge, Michael Hayward-Jones as Jarvis Lorry, Craig Bennett as Jerry Cruncher, Nick Wyman as John Barsad, Katherine McGrath as Miss Pross and Alex Santoriello as Dr. Manette.
Set against the epic backdrop of the French Revolution and based on the classic Charles Dickens novel, A Tale of Two Cities is a musical about injustice, vengeance and the redemptive power of love. When Dr. Manette is released from the French Bastille after 17 years, he must be resurrected from the brink of madness by his daughter, Lucie. In England they meet two very different men: the exiled French aristocrat, Charles Darnay, whom Lucie marries, and the drunken cynic, Sydney Carton. Soon family secrets and political intrigue combine to draw Lucie and her family back to Paris. At the height of the Reign of Terror, the musical finds an unlikely hero in Carton, inspired by love to make an extraordinary sacrifice.
A Tale of Two Cities will run from October 13 through November 18 at the Asolo. A Broadway bow for the musical is expected in early 2008.
