randy-harrison.it
Harrison to Star as Warhol in Yale Rep's POP! Musical; Kreeger, Kritzer Also Cast

Thursday, October 15th 2010

By: Adam Hetrick
Source: playbill
Edited by: Marcy
Randy Harrison and Doug Kreeger will join Drama Desk nominee Leslie Kritzer in the Andy Warhol-inspired musical POP! at the Yale Repertory Theatre.

Harrison, known for his roles on "Queer as Folk" and Wicked on Broadway, will star as iconic pop artist Andy Warhol, with Kritzer's Rooms co-star Kreeger as Warhol film star Ondine.

As previously reported, Kritzer (A Catered Affair, Rooms, Funny Girl) will portray attempted Warhol murderer and feminist writer Valerie Solanas, with Brian Charles Rooney (Allies, Bedbugs!!!, Threepenny Opera) as transsexual Warhol film star Candy Darling and Cristen Paige (How Now, Dow Jones, The Visit) as Warhol's muse Edie Sedgwick.

Newly added cast members also include Danny Binstock as poet and long-time Warhol assistant Gerard and Emily Swallow (High Fidelity, Romantic Poetry) as Factory regular and Warhol film star Viva.

Mark Brokaw (After Miss Julie, Cry-Baby, This Is Our Youth) directs the world premiere that will run Nov. 27-Dec. 19. An official opening has been set for Dec. 3. The musical has book and lyrics by Maggie-Kate Coleman and music by Anna K. Jacobs.

Press notes for POP! read: "Who shot Andy Warhol? The fabulous drag queen Candy Darling hosts a happening whodunit musical in which the famous — and infamous — denizens of Warhol's legendary Factory all have motives to pull the trigger. But the pop art icon unravels an even bigger mystery as he confronts not only the prime suspects, but also his art and his own greatest creation: himself."

Denis Jones choreographs with musical direction by Lynne Shankel. The design team includes Valérie Thérèse Bart (scenic design), Ying Song (costume design), Kevin Adams (lighting design), David Budries (sound design), Yal Yarden (projection design), Bruce Coughlin (orchestrations) and Catherine Sheehey (dramaturg).

POP! was previously developed as part of the inaugural season at the Yale Institute for Music Theatre in June. Brokaw serves as the artistic director of the Institute, which is a joint venture between the Yale School of Drama and the Yale School of Music that seeks to develop the work of graduate and recent post-graduate students.