The musical, which began previews July 9 towards an Aug. 8 opening at the Longacre Theatre, will have played 34 previews and 174 regular performances at the time of closing.
The work, which received a Seattle premiere co-produced by A.C.T. and the 5th Avenue Theatre, features a book by Austin Winsberg ("Gossip Girl"), with music and lyrics by Alan Zachary and Michael Weiner (Secondhand Lions, Twice Charmed), who began writing songs together in high school.
"They say write what you know," book writer Winsberg previously told Playbill.com, "and as we collectively got together and started talking about what we know, it turned out we know that we're not such great daters." The trio of 30-somethings crafted a new one-act work based on their own dating experiences and set up uptight Aaron (Levi) with super-chic Casey (Rodriguez) in First Date.
"Truly, the scariest thing about this show," added Weiner, "is probably [that] everything is taken from our own lives or our friends' lives in some way. We have friends who will see this show…and maybe they won't be friends with us afterwards!" In First Date, the ensemble of five make up the figures from Aaron and Casey's past, and classic dating moments like "First Impressions" and "The Awkward Pause" are musicalized throughout.
Bill Berry (producing director of The 5th Avenue Theatre), who helmed the world premiere, directs the Broadway production, and Josh Rhodes (Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella) provides musical staging. The cast includes Levi (Broadway debut, TV's "Chuck," Disney's "Tangled," upcoming "Thor: The Dark World"), Rodriguez ("Smash," The Addams Family), Sara Chase ("Arrested Development," The Toxic Avenger), Kristoffer Cusick (Wicked, Rent), Blake Hammond (Sister Act, Billy Elliot), Kate Loprest ("Boardwalk Empire," Hairspray), Vicki Noon (Wicked, Mamma Mia!), Bryce Ryness (Hair, Leap of Faith, Legally Blonde), Eric Ankrim (Broadway debut), Kevin Kern (Wicked, The Wedding Singer, Les Miz) and Sydney Shepherd (Broadway debut).
Photo by Joan Marcus |
The creative team includes scenic designer David Gallo, costume designer David C. Woolard, lighting designer Mike Baldassari, sound designer Kai Harada and hair designer Josh Marquette. Musical supervision, vocal and incidental arrangements are by Dominick Amendum, and August Eriksmoen orchestrates.
Tickets can be purchased at Telecharge.com or by calling (212) 239-6200.
First Date is produced by Junkyard Dog Productions (Randy Adams, Marleen and Kenny Alhadeff, Sue Frost) in association with Stem Productions, Altar Identity Studios, Alex and Katya Lukianov, Susan W. and James C. Blair Family LP, Linda and Bill Potter, Yasuhiro Kawana, Vijay and Sita Vashee, Kevin and Lynn Foley, Jeff and Julie Goldstein, Edward and Mimi Kirsch, Frank and Denise Phillips, Stephen Reynolds and Paula Rosput Reynolds, Land Line Productions, Alhadeff Family Productions/Sheri and Les Biller, Pat Halloran/Laura Little Theatrical Productions, Tony Meola/Remmel T. Dickinson and John Yonover, and ShadowCatcher Entertainment/Tom and Connie Walsh.
The musical was originally co-produced by The 5th Avenue Theatre (David Armstrong, executive producer and artistic director; Bernadine Griffin, managing director; Bill Berry, producing director) and A Contemporary Theatre Seattle, WA (Kurt Beattie, artistic director, and Carlo Scandiuzzi, executive director).
Visit FirstDateTheMusical.com.