Melissa Gilbert to Star in Little House on the Prairie National Tour

Melissa Gilbert is set to star in the national tour of Little House on the Prairie, the new musical based on the books of Laura Ingalls Wilder, following a five-week engagement at the Paper Mill Playhouse beginning on September 10. Gilbert, who rose to fame playing Laura on the popular NBC series of the same name, will be featured in the role of Ma. The production will also star Steve Blanchard as Pa and Kara Lindsay as Laura.

The national tour launches in October at the Ordway Theatre in St. Paul, Minnesota, where it will play for two weeks. It will continue on to at least 30 additional cities throughout the U.S. and Canada in 2009 and 2010, including Denver, Toronto, Houston, Tempe and Sacramento. A complete tour schedule will be announced in the coming weeks.

The musical with Gilbert, Blanchard and Lindsay had its world premiere production in August 2008 at the Guthrie Theatre in Minneapolis. The show is directed by Francesca Zambello The Little Mermaid, with music by Academy Award winner Rachel Portman Emma, lyrics by Donna di Novelli and a book by Tony Award winner Rachel Sheinkin The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.

Little House on the Prairie is the uplifting story of an American family forging a new life amidst the mighty challenges, heartbreaks, joys and triumphs that face them in the newly settled heartland. It is also the story of young Laura Ingalls, as she begins her life as a young woman, finding purpose, and finding love.

Gilbert’s other stage credits include off-Broadway’s A Shayna Maidel and Love Letters at Los Angeles’ Canon Theater, among others. In addition to the Little House primetime series, she has appeared in more than 40 movies for television, including the Emmy Award-winning The Miracle Worker, as well as episodes of Nip/Tuck and Sweet Justice. Her new book, Prairie Tale: A Memoir, will be published in June by Simon & Schuster.

Little House on the Prairie’s design team includes sets by Adrianne Lobel, lighting by Mark McCullough, and costumes by Tony winner Jess Goldstein.

The show is produced by Ben Sprecher, Amy Sprecher, Louise Forlenza, Bob Boyett, Jay Harris, William Franzblau, Tony Fusco, Larry Feinman and Nelle Nugent, in association with Wendy Federman and Bob Reich.