Encore's announce cast for Girl Crazy

Encore's announce cast for Girl Crazy Girl Crazy, the first Encores! production of the New York City Center season, will star Ana Gasteyer, Wayne Knight, Marc Kudisch Richard Poe and real-life husband and wife actors Chris Diamantopoulos and Becki Newton as the romantic leads. The musical will run from 19 - 22 Nov 2009 at NY City Center. The Encores! cast will also feature Jeremy Beck, Mylinda Hull, Daniel Stewart Sherman and Gregory Wooddell. Girl Crazy, directed by Jerry Zaks and choreographed by Warren Carlyle with Guest Music Director Rob Fisher, has music and lyrics by George Gershwin and Ira Gershwin and book by Guy Bolton and Jack McGowan. Girl Crazy, the Gershwin's fanciful depression-era musical of 1930, is the tale of a sophisticated New Yorker (Chris Diamantopoulos) marooned in a dusty Western cow town with no one who understands him but the Yiddish-speaking cabbie (Wayne Knight) who brought him there and no one to love but the only woman (Becki Newton) within 50 miles. The show gave birth to some of Broadway best known tunes, featuring "I Got Rhythm," "Embraceable You," "But Not for Me" and "Bidin' My Time," among others. The original production of Girl Crazy opened at the Alvin Theatre on 14 Oct 1930 and ran for 272 performances. The musical has never had a Broadway revival. Bios: Jeremy Beck (Pete Howell) has appeared Off-Broadway in 'Bury the Dead,' 'Betrayed,' 'The Second Tosca,' 'Pink,' 'Bang Big' and 'The Dog in the Manger.' In London, he appeared in the West End production of Shakespeare's 'R&J.' Chris Diamantopoulos (Danny Churchill) has appeared on Broadway as 'Marius' in 'Les Misérables' and 'Ethan Girard' in 'The Full Monty.' Diamantopoulos received a Gemini Award nomination and a Prism Award for his portrayal of Robin Williams in the NBC movie "Behind the Camera: Mork & Mindy." He is married to co-star Becki Newton. Ana Gasteyer (Frisco Kate Fothergill) is currently appearing on Broadway in 'The Royal Family'. Her other Broadway credits include 'Elphaba' in 'Wicked,' 'Mrs. Peachum' in 'The Threepenny Opera' and 'Columbia' in 'The Rocky Horror Show.' Her off Broadway credits include 'Kimberly Akimbo,' 'The Vagina Monologues,' and 'Cinderella' (NYC Opera). She was a cast member of "Saturday Night Live" from 1998 - 2002. Mylinda Hull (Patsy West) appeared on Broadway in 'Dirty Rotten Scoundrels,' 'Sweet Charity' and the 2001 Broadway revival of '42nd Street.' Her off Broadway credits include 'Road Show' at the Public Theater, 'I Love You, You're Perfect...,' and the 2004 premiere of 'Irving Berlin's White Christmas,' directed by Walter Bobbie. She made her Encores! debut in 'Face the Music.' Wayne Knight (Gieber Goldfarb) has appeared on Broadway in the plays 'Gemini,' 'Mastergate,' 'Art' and 'Sweet Charity 'with Christina Applegate. Knight is well known for his role as 'Newman' in "Seinfeld" and his appearances on "3rd Rock from the Sun." His film roles include 'Jurassic Park,' 'Toy Story 2,' 'JFK,' 'Basic Instinct,' 'Dirty Dancing' and 'Tarzan.' Marc Kudisch (Slick Fothergill) was recently seen on Broadway as 'Franklin Hart' in th musical '9 to 5' for which he was nominated for his third Tony Award. Other Tony nomonations include: 'Chitty Chitty Bang Bang' and 'Thoroughly Modern Millie.' His previous Encores! credits include 'No Strings.' Becki Newton (Molly Gray) currently plays the role of 'Amanda Tanen' in "Ugly Betty," a role which earned her an Emmy nomination and has appeared in "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" and "Charmed." She is married to co-star Chris Diamantopoulos. Richard Poe (Jake Howell) has appeared on Broadway in 'Cry-Baby,' 'Journey's End,' 'M. Butterfly,' '1776,' 'Our Country's Good,' 'The Dinner Party,' 'Moon Over Buffalo,' 'Fiddler on the Roof' and 'The Pajama Game.' He is cast to play 'Henry Lyppiatt' in the upcoming Broadway production of 'Present Laughter.' Off Broadway, he was recently seen in Christopher Durang's 'Why Torture Is Wrong, and the People Who Love Them.' Daniel Stewart Sherman (Lank Sanders) has appeared on Broadway in 'Desire Under the Elms,' 'Cyrano de Bergerac,' 'A Touch of the Poet,' 'Henry IV' and 'The Full Monty.' Gregory Wooddell (Tom Mason) has appeared on Broadway in the Lincoln Center's production of 'Cymbeline.' Regionally he has sarred in the world premeire of Terrence McNally's 'Some Men' at Philadelphia Theatre Company, the American premiere of 'School of Night' at Mark Taper Forum, the world premiere of 'Miracle at Naples' at Huntington Theatre, 'Othello' at Shakespeare Theatre Company and 'The School of Night' at the Mark Taper Forum. Jerry Zaks (Director) is a prolific New York Director with more than 30 NY productions to his credits. He has won four Tony Awards: 'Guys and Dolls,' 'Six Degrees of Separation,' 'Lend Me a Tenor' and 'The House of Blue Leaves.' Zaks has previously directed 'Stairway to Paradise' and 'Bye Bye Birdie' for Encores! and acted in the first production, 'Fiorello!' His television credits include "Everybody Loves Raymond" "Fraiser" and "Two and a Half Men." He served as resident director at Lincoln Center Theater from 1986-1990. Warren Carlyle (Choreographer) directed and choreographed last season's Encores! productions of 'Finian's Rainbow' which recently opened to rave reviews on Broadway. Regionally he has choreographed 'Mame' at The Kennedy Center, 'The Pirates of Penzance' at Goodspeed and Paper Mill Playhouse and 'The Baker's Wife' at Goodspeed, among many others. In addition to 'Finian's Rainbow,' his previous Encores! credits include 'Juno' and 'Stairway to Paradise.' New York City Center Encores! has, since 1994, celebrated the rarely-heard works of America's most important composers and lyricists. Conceived as concert versions, each Encores! season gives three scores the chance to be heard as originally intended by their creators. Over the years, Encores! has presented the works of the Gershwins, Rodgers and Hart, Rodgers and Hammerstein, Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, Kurt Weill, Bock and Harnick, Burt Bacharach, Kander and Ebb, Comden and Green, and many others. The program is the recipient of a special 2000 Tony Honor for Excellence in the Theatre, as well as an Outer Critics Circle Award, Lucille Lortel Award and Jujamcyn Theaters Award.