Casting has been announced for the New York premiere of Lory Lazarus’ new musical, Attack of the Elvis Impersonators, in which the soul of Elvis returns to Earth to convince the human race to be his impersonators. The show will debut at the Lion Theatre at Theatre Row beginning June 1and will officially open June 15. .
The cast will be made up of Eric Sciotto (Something Rotten, The Mystery of Edwin Drood) as Drac Frenzie, Ashley Spencer (Rock of Ages, Priscilla Queen of the Desert) as Prissy Bordeaux, and Curtis Wiley as Matt Shadow (The Total Bent, Diner), with Michael Biren (Crazy for You, Billy Elliot), Jim Borstelmann (Chicago, Damn Yankees), Badia Farha (Sistas, Little Shop of Horrors), Warren Kelley (Birdman, The Blacklist), Jeff Kready (A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder, Sunday in the Park with George), Emily Jeanne Phillips (Elf The Musical, The Producers), Catherine Walker (A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder, Mary Poppins), Jayme Wappel (West Side Story, Guys & Dolls), Jacob ben Widmar (The Book of Mormon, Radio City New York Spectacular), and Laura Woyasz (Wicked, The Marvelous Wonderettes).
Attack of the Elvis Impersonators features a book, music, and lyrics by Lazarus, direction by Don Stephenson, and choreography by Melissa Zaremba. Music direction, arrangements and orchestrations will be by Benjamin Rauhala. Lawrence Rosner is producer.
In the new musical, the ghost of Elvis inhabits the body of the most famous rock star in history and convinces his disciples that in order to bring peace to the planet, the entire human race must impersonate Elvis and convert to the new religion: Hound Dog.
The creative team features set designer Paul Tate dePoo III, costume designer Tracy Christensen, lighting designer Travis McHale, sound designer Josh Liebert, and projection designer Shawn Duan. The music team includes Jeremy Yaddow, Steve Marks, and Mark McCarron. The production stage manager is Jaimie Van Dyke. General management is by Rachel Esman of DTE Management.
While working as a host at a New York City restaurant in the 1980s, creator Lazarus saw a cabaret skit about an Elvis impersonator and immediately thought: “What would happen if there were thousands of Elvis impersonators… nay, millions of them, taking over the planet?” He wrote a song for his band to perform at the time, but nothing came of it until several years later when he decided to revisit the material and pen a complete musical.
For the complete back story, more information, and to purchase tickets, visit elvisimpersonatorsmusical.com.
