Scandalous: Edward Watts & Roz Ryan join cast

Edward Watts ('Finian's Rainbow') and Roz Ryan ('Chicago,' 'The Pajama Game,' 'Dreamgirls') have joined the cast of the up-coming Broadway musical Scandalous: The Life and Trials of Aimee Semple McPherson.

Edward Watts will play the dual roles of 'Robert Semple,' the firey Irish evangelist from the early twentieth century who becomes Aimee's first husband; and 'David Hutton,' a charming Los Angeles actor who becomes Aimee's third husband during the height of her nationwide celebrity.

Roz Ryan portrays'Emma Jo Schaeffer,' the tough talking, no nonsense madame of a brothel who befriends Aimee early in her ministry and becomes a constant fixture in her life for years to come.

Watts and Ryan - both of whom are reprising their respective roles from the musical's pre-Broadway production at Seattle's Fifth Avenue Theatre last fall - join previously announced leading lady and two-time Tony Award nominee Carolee Carmello (Parade, Lestat) as 'Aimee Semple McPherson,' and two-time Tony Award winner George Hearn ('Sunset Boulevard,' 'La Cage aux Folles') in the dual roles of 'James Kennedy' and 'Brother Bob.'

With book and lyrics by Kathie Lee Gifford and music by David Pomeranz and David Friedman, Scandalous will open at the Neil Simon Theatre on 15 Nov 2012, following previews from 13 Oct 2012.

Directed by David Armstrong, scandalous is based on the life of Aimee Semple McPherson (1890-1944), the world's first media superstar evangelist - a woman whose passion for saving souls equaled her passion for making sensational headlines and attracting overflow crowds of thousands throughout the world. Time Magazine named Aimee Semple McPherson one the most influential people of the twentieth century.

Set in 1920's Los Angeles, holiness collides with Hollywood in this extraordinary tale of one remarkable woman's charismatic rise to fame amidst scandalous love affairs and growing controversy, inevitably ending in her much-publicized fall from grace.

With choreography by Lorin Latarro and musical direction by Joel Fram, Scandalous features scenic design by Walt Spangler, costume design by Gregory A. Poplyk, lighting design by Natasha Katz and sound design by Ken Travis.

Scandalous: The Life and Trials of Aimee Semple McPherson is produced by Dick and Betsy DeVos, Foursquare Foundation and Jeffrey Finn, Executive Producer, in association with The 5th Avenue Theatre (David Armstrong, Executive Producer and Artistic Director; Bernadine Griffin, Managing Director; Bill Berry, Producing Director).