See Who's Starring in Carnival! Off-Broadway for J2 Spotlight

Robert W. Schneider is directing the Equity Approved Showcase.

April 10, 2026 By Andrew Gans

Anna Maria Alberghetti in the original Broadway production of *Carnival!*

Casting is set for the J2 Spotlight Musical Theater Company production of the 1961 Broadway musical Carnival!, which had earlier replaced Richard Rodgers and Stephen Sondheim's Do I Hear a Waltz? on the Off-Broadway company's 2026 season schedule.

With a book by Michael Stewart and music and lyrics by Bob Merrill, the show will be presented April 30-May 10 at the AMT Theater.

Artistic Director Robert W. Schneider will direct a cast that includes Darrel Blackburn (The Scarlet Pimpernel) as Schelgel, Bridget Delaney as Lili, Richard Gomez as Puppeteer, Mason Hensley as Paul, Clint Hromsco as Puppeteer, Collin O’Neill as Jacquot, Andreas Pliatsikas as Grobert, Gregory White as Marco, and Dana Winkle (An American in Paris) as Rosalie plus ensemble members Kayla Ceaser, Shaun Collins, Leyla Eames, Emma Kantor, and Zachary Kropp.

Based on the 1953 film Lili by Helen Deutsch, Carnival! follows Lili, a naïve and abandoned young woman whose desperate search for the magician who promised marriage leads her to join a traveling carnival, where she learns to discern illusion from reality and discovers unexpected love and independence.

Premiering on Broadway in 1961, Carnival! ran a total of 721 performances.The production was nominated for seven 1962 Tony Awards, winning two, including Best Actress in a Musical for Anna Maria Alberghetti. The musical has never been revived on Broadway, but has been produced by New York City Center in 1968, and again in 2002, the latter for the Encores! series starring Anne Hathaway, Brian Stokes Mitchell, and Douglas Sills.

The creative team also includes music director Eizabeth Hastings, choreographer Josh Assor, casting director Holly Buczek, music supervisor Miles Plant, associate director Mike Meaney, associate music director Luka Marinkovic, lighting designers Christian Specht and Tollie Boone, stage manager Cameron Fleck, associate stage manager Maria Papadopoulos, and dramaturg Frederick Miller. Ed Christie designed the puppets.

Carnival is presented in arrangement with Concord Theatricals as an Equity Approved Showcase.

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