MasterVoices has revealed casting for its upcoming concert staging of Strike Up the Band, featuring music by George Gershwin and lyrics by Ira Gershwin. The musical will kick off the MasterVoices season October 29 at Carnegie Hall.
Artistic Director Ted Sperling will lead the 120-member chorus and guest soloists in the rarely performed Gershwin musical comedy, which has a book by Morrie Ryskind based on a libretto by George S. Kaufman.
The cast will include Shereen Ahmed as Joan Fletcher, Phillip Attmore as Tim Harper, Victoria Clark as Mrs. Draper, Lissa deGuzman as Miss Meade, Claybourne Elder as G. Edgar Sloane, Christopher Fitzgerald as Spelvini, Bryce Pinkham as Jim Townsend, and David Pittu as Colonel Holmes, with additional casting to be announced.
“Working with both the Gershwin and Kaufman estates, author Laurence Maslon and I will be creating a new edition of Strike Up the Band, which contains the best of the 1927 and 1930 versions of the show, which I hope may prove to be the blueprint for future performances of this work," Sperling said in an earlier statement. "The MasterVoices concert staging will take full advantage of the wonderful dance music that follows so many of the songs, sometimes lyrical, other times comic, or military. We look forward to bringing these moments to life with dancers as we have done with pleasure so many times in our recent history.”
The concert is choreographed by Alison Solomon. The creative team also includes costume designer Tracy Christensen, lighting designer Shelby Loera, and sound designer Marc Salzberg.
The performance will be dedicated to the memory of Gershwin family member Michael Strunsky, who would have turned 90 years old the week of the concert. As steward of the Ira Gershwin Musical Estate, Strunsky was a supporter of many of MasterVoices’ projects, including The Firebrand of Florence, Lady in the Dark, Of Thee I Sing, and Let ‘Em Eat Cake.
As previously reported, the MasterVoices season will also include the New York City premiere of Scott Davenport Richards and David Cote's opera Blind Injustice, as well as Bach Reframed: The B Minor Mass.
Visit MasterVoices.org for more information.
