The cast and creative team of Vineyard Theatre and Second Stage Theater's upcoming world premiere musical White Girl in Danger met the press this week. Get a first look at rehearsal photos below.
The new musical, the latest from A Strange Loop Tony and Pulitzer winner Michael R. Jackson, will begin March 14 at Second Stage's Tony Kiser Theater, with opening night set for April 10.
The cast includes Liz Lark Brown as Diane W/Barbara W/Judith W, Kayla Davion as Florence, Latoya Edwards as Keesha Gibbs, Jennifer Fouché as Abilene, Morgan Siobhan Green as Caroline, Molly Hager as Megan White, Vincent Jamal Hooper as Tarik Blackwell, James Jackson, Jr. as Clarence, Tarra Conner Jones as Nell Gibbs, Alyse Alan Louis as Maegan Whitehall, Lauren Marcus as Maegan Whitehead, and Eric William Morris as Matthew S/Scott M/Zack Paul Gosselar.
The satirical work transports audiences to soap opera town Allwhite, where Keesha Gibbs and the other "blackgrounds" look to center their own narratives while avoiding certain death at the hands of the Allwhite Killer. The work has been in development at the Vineyard through a multi-year residency for Jackson, and previously performed a developmental reading at New York Stage and Film.
LaDonna Burns, Melessie Clark, Alexis Cofield, Shane Donovan, Jon-Michael Reese, and Natalie Walker round out the company as understudies.
Tony nominee Lileana Blain-Cruz (The Skin of Our Teeth) will direct the musical, and Raja Feather Kelly (A Strange Loop) is choreographing. The production will feature scenic design by Adam Rigg, costume design by Montana Levi Blanco, lighting design by Jen Schriever, sound design by Jonathan Deans, projection design by Josh Higgason, and music direction and supervision by Meg Zervoulis. Orchestrations are by Lynne Shankel.
White Girl in Danger is the second Michael R. Jackson musical to get a major production. His first, A Strange Loop, won the Pulitzer and Best Musical Tony Awards following a 2019 Off-Broadway world premiere at Playwrights Horizons and a 2022 Broadway transfer.