Knickerbocker Holiday: York announces cast changes

Nick Gaswirth ('Harpo Marx' in last season�s Musicals in Mufti Minnie�s Boys) will replace Bobby Steggert in the role of 'Brom Broeck' in this weekend�s concert presentation of Knickerbocker Holiday by the York Theatre Company. Steggert had to leave unexpectedly due to a family emergency. Also, Ric Stoneback (1776, Paper Mill) has replaced John O�Creagh.

Knickerbocker Holiday also features Kelli Barrett (Rock of Ages) as 'Tina Tienhoven,' Walter Charles (The Apple Tree) as 'Tienhoven,' Josh Grisetti (Enter Laughing, The Musical) as 'Washington Irving' and Tony Award-nominee Martin Vidnovic (Brigadoon, Baby) as 'Pieter Stuyvesant'.

The cast also includes Cyrilla Baer (Adding Machine), William Parry (Gypsy), Ronica Reddick, Roland Rusinek (The Phantom of the Opera), Lucia Spina (South Pacific) and Jendi Tarde. The concert will be directed by Michael Unger with music direction by John Bell.

Knickerbocker Holiday, is the final Spring 2009 Musicals in Mufti staged concert presentations, playing at the Theatre at Saint Peter�s from 26 - 28 Jun 2009.

Knickerbocker Holiday: On the eve of the American Revolution, the arrival of a new Governor in New York City (then called New Amsterdam) causes a great deal of chaos amongst his new constituents.

This cult classic (which went on to inspire the Oscar-nominated film of the same name) opened on Broadway in 1938 and imaginatively used the setting of New York City on the eve of the American Revolution to create a farcical response to President Roosevelt�s New Deal. Based on �Father Knickerbocker�s History� by American master Washington Irving with music by Kurt Weill and book and lyrics by Maxwell Anderson, Knickerbocker Holiday is filled with romance and political humor, and the score includes �How Can You Tell an American?�, �It Never Was You� and �September Song.�

�Mufti� (pronounced MUFF� tee) means �in street clothes; without the usual trappings� and each show in the Series is presented script-in-hand, with minimal staging. To date, the York has presented over 70 Mufti concert revivals of musical theatre gems from Broadway, Off-Broadway and London, celebrating such writers as Richard Rodgers, George Abbott, Larry Grossman and Joseph Stein.

Notable Musicals in Mufti presentations have included 'Enter Laughing, The Musical' (which inspired The York�s record-breaking Off-Broadway production), 'Take Me Along,' 'The Grass Harp,' 'Carmelina,' 'Plain and Fancy,' 'Lucky Stiff,' 'Darling of the Day,' 'Mata Hari,' 'Carmen Jones,' 'Billion Dollar Baby' and '70, Girls, 70.'