KISS ME, KATE to star Will Chase and Kelli O'Hara on Broadway

ANNOUNCES

TONY AWARD NOMINEE

WILL CHASE

TO JOIN THE PREVIOUSLY ANNOUNCED

TONY AWARD WINNER

KELLI O’HARA

IN A NEW BROADWAY PRODUCTION OF THE TONY-AWARD WINNING

MUSICAL COMEDY

KISS ME, KATE

Music and Lyrics by COLE PORTER

Book by SAM and BELLA SPEWACK

Choreographed by WARREN CARLYLE

Directed by SCOTT ELLIS

Previews Begin February 14, 2019

Official Opening March 14, 2019

Limited engagement through June 2, 2019 at Studio 54 on Broadway

Roundabout Theatre Company (Todd Haimes, Artistic Director/CEO) is pleased to announce Tony Award nominee Will Chase (The Mystery of Edwin Drood, “Nashville” and upcoming HBO’s “Sharp Objects”) will join Tony Award winner Kelli O’Hara in a new Broadway production of the musical comedy Kiss Me, Kate. Chase will star as “Fred Graham/Petruchio.”

Kiss Me, Kate will begin preview performances on Thursday, February 14, 2019 and opens officially on Thursday, March 14, 2019. This is a limited engagement through Sunday, June 2, 2019 at Studio 54 on Broadway (254 W 54th St).

Kiss Me, Kate features a book by Sam and Bella Spewack, music and lyrics by Cole Porter, direction by eight-time Tony nominee and Roundabout’s Associate Artistic Director Scott Ellis, choreography by Tony winner Warren Carlyle, and music direction by Paul Gemignani.

The creative team includes David Rockwell (Sets), Jeff Mahshie (Costumes), Donald Holder (Lighting), Brian Ronan (Sound) and David Brian Brown (Hair & Wig design).

Roundabout welcomes back longtime friends of the theater; Tony winner Kelli O’Hara who was nominated for her role in the 2006 revival of The Pajama Game opposite Harry Connick, Jr. and Will Chase returns to Roundabout following his Tony nominated role in 2012 revival of The Mystery of Edwin Drood. In 2016, O’Hara and Chase also starred in a sold-out benefit concert reading of Kiss Me, Kate directed by Scott Ellis.

In the constellation of musical comedy masterpieces, Kiss Me, Kate shines as perhaps Broadway's most sparkling achievement. This is the winner of the first-ever Tony Award for Best Musical, alive with onstage romance, backstage passion, comedy high and low, a hilarious dash of Shakespeare’s Shrew, and the songwriting genius of Cole Porter at his stylish, sexy, sophisticated best, including “Too Darn Hot,” “So In Love” and “Always True To You In My Fashion.” Once again, Roundabout catapults you to musical comedy heaven, with a brand-new Kiss Me, Kate.

Additional cast members will be announced soon.

BIOS:

KELLI O’HARA (Kate/Lilli Vanessi). Kelli O’Hara has unequivocally established herself as one of Broadway’s great leading ladies. Her portrayal of Anna Leonowens in the critically acclaimed revival of The King and I garnered her the 2015 Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical, along with Drama League and Outer Critics nominations. She is currently appearing as Jackie in the second season of Netflix’s hit 13 Reasons Why and recently completed shooting the upcoming series of The Accidental Wolf. Last year, she joined Showtime’s Master of Sex as Michael Sheen’s long-lost love, Dodie, and can be seen in CBS All Access’ The Good Fight. Other Broadway credits include The Bridges of Madison County (Tony, Drama Desk, Drama League, OCC nominations), Nice Work If You Can Get It (Tony, Drama Desk, Drama League, OCC nominations), South Pacific (Tony, Drama Desk, OCC nominations), The Pajama Game (Tony, Drama Desk, OCC nominations), The Light in the Piazza (Tony & Drama Desk nominations), Sweet Smell of Success, Follies, Dracula, and Jekyll & Hyde. Regional/Off Broadway credits include Far From Heaven (Playwrights Horizons and WTF), King Lear (Public Theater), Bells Are Ringing (City Center Encores), Sunday in the Park with George (Reprise), and My Life With Albertine (Playwright’s Horizons). Concerts span from Carnegie Hall to Capitol Hill. Ms. O’Hara starred as Mrs. Darling in NBC’s live telecast of “Peter Pan” alongside Allison Williams and Christian Borle and made her Metropolitan Opera debut in The Merry Widow with Renee Fleming. Other film and television credits include Sex & The City 2, Martin Scorsese’s The Key to Reserva, Blue Bloods, Alexander Hamilton, N3mbers, and the animated series Car Talk. She is a frequent performer on PBS’s live telecasts and the Kennedy Center Honors. Her solo albums, Always and Wonder in the World are available on Ghostlight Records. Upcoming, Kelli will star in the Metropolitan Opera's production of Così fan tutte as Despina, and will reprise her Tony Award winning role as Anna Leonowens in the highly anticipated West End transfer of The King and I, Summer 2018.

WILL CHASE (Petruchio/Fred Graham). Critically acclaimed, Tony Award Nominated actor and singer Will Chase is currently filming the remake of the feature After The Wedding and can be seen on HBO's “Sharp Objects” and YouTube Red's “Impulse”. He most recently appeared on FX's “American Crime Story: The Assassination Of Gianni Versace”, Netflix's “Stranger Things” and HBO's “The Deuce”, and starred in the ABC drama “Time After Time”. Best known as country star "Luke Wheeler" on ABC's “Nashville”, his other television appearances include recurring roles on “Quantico”, CBS's “The Good Wife”, FX's “Rescue Me”, and as Michael Swift on NBC's Broadway-inspired “Smash”, as well as appearances on “Blue Bloods”, “White Collar”, “Pan Am”, “Royal Pains”, and “Law & Order: Criminal Intent”. Film credits include Butterflies of Bill Baker (BEST ACTOR-Chain NYC Film Festival), Four Single Fathers, and Shaft. Known as one of Broadway's "most versatile leading men", he received the 2013 Tony Award Nomination and Outer Critics Circle Award Nomination for BEST FEATURED ACTOR IN A MUSICAL for his portrayal of John Jasper in the Broadway revival of The Mystery Of Edwin Drood. His other Broadway credits include Something Rotten, Billy Elliot, Aida, Lennon, Nice Work If You Can Get It, High Fidelity, The Full Monty, Miss Saigon, and Roger in Rent, which was captured on the big screen in RENT: Filmed Live On Broadway. Will can be heard on several Original Broadway Cast Recordings as well as three seasons of cast albums for the show “Nashville”. He has performed all over the world and has sung with the renowned New York Pops at Carnegie Hall, the Cincinnati Pops, and the Colorado Symphony. Having studied conducting with Atlanta Symphony's Robert Spano, Will has premiered countless compositions, and has worked and performed with some of the most important composers and musical luminaries in the world. Born and raised in rural Kentucky, Chase trained as a percussionist, conductor, and actor, and received his degree from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music in Oberlin, Ohio. He has two daughters, Daisy and Gracie, and calls Brooklyn, New York, home.

SCOTT ELLIS (Director). Broadway: She Loves Me (Tony Award nomination, Outer Critics Circle nomination), You Can’t Take It With You (Tony Award nomination, Outer Critics Circle nomination), On the Twentieth Century (Outer Critics Circle nomination), The Elephant Man (Outer Critics Circle nomination), The Mystery Of Edwin Drood (Tony nomination), Harvey, Curtains (Tony nomination), The Little Dog Laughed (Lortel nomination), Twelve Angry Men (Tony nomination), The Man Who Had All The Luck, The Rainmaker, 1776 (Drama Desk, Tony nomination), Company, Steel Pier (Tony nomination), She Loves Me (Tony nomination), Picnic, A Month In The Country. Off-Broadway: Dada Wolf, Papa Hot (LCT), Tom Durin, Gruesome Playground Inuries, Streamers, Good Boys And True, The Waverly Gallery, Flora, The Red Menace (DD nom), and The World Goes ‘Round (Drama Desk Award). TV: “Weeds” (EP), “30 Rock” (Emmy nomination, Best Director), “Modern Family,” HBO’s “Divorce.” Associate Artistic Director, Roundabout Theatre Company. Upcoming Broadway: Tootsie.

WARREN CARLYLE (Choreographer). Roundabout: She Loves Me, On the Twentieth Century, The Mystery of Edwin Drood. Broadway: Director/Choreographer: After Midnight, Chaplin, Hugh Jackman: Back on Broadway, Finian’s Rainbow and A Tale of Two Cities; Choreographer for Hello, Dolly!, A Christmas Story, Follies. For City Center Encores!: On Your Toes, Girl Crazy, On the Town, Juno and Stairway to Paradise. Choreographer for Carousel (New York Philharmonic). Regional: Produced, directed and choreographed the pre-Broadway tour of Hugh Jackman: In Performance; directed and/or choreographed Camelot, Harps and Angels, Limelight, Buddy’s Tavern, Lucky Guy, Mame, Dancing in the Dark, The Pirates of Penzance and The Baker’s Wife. Film/TV: “The 68th and 69th Annual Tony Awards” and “SYTYCD.” Warren received a 2013 Emmy nomination for his work on Carousel and the 2014 Tony Award for his work on After Midnight. @carlylewarren

TICKET INFORMATION:

Tickets for Kiss Me, Kate are available by calling 212.719.1300, online at roundabouttheatre.org, in person at any Roundabout box office: American Airlines Theatre Box office (227 West 42nd Street); The Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theatre (111 W 46th Street) and Studio 54 (254 West 54th Street); or by visiting StubHub, The Premier Secondary Ticketing Partner of Roundabout. Ticket prices range from $57-$167. For groups of 10 or more please call 212-719-9393 x 365 or email groupsales@roundabouttheatre.org.

Kiss Me, Kate benefits from Roundabout’s Musical Theatre Production Fund with lead gifts from Perry and Marty Granoff, the Blanche and Irving Laurie Foundation, the Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation, Michael Kors and Lance Le Pere, and Diane and Tom Tuft.

Roundabout Theatre Company celebrates the power of theatre by spotlighting classics from the past, cultivating new works of the present, and educating minds for the future. A not-for-profit company, Roundabout fulfills that mission by producing familiar and lesser-known plays and musicals; discovering and supporting talented playwrights; reducing the barriers that can inhibit theatergoing; collaborating with a diverse team of artists; building educational experiences; and archiving over five decades of production history.

Roundabout Theatre Company presents a variety of plays, musicals and new works on its five stages: Broadway’s American Airlines Theatre, Studio 54 and Stephen Sondheim Theatre, and Off-Broadway’s Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theatre, which houses the Laura Pels Theatre and Black Box Theatre.

American Airlines is the official airline of Roundabout Theatre Company. Roundabout productions are supported, in part, with public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.

Roundabout’s 2017-2018 season concludes with Skintight by Joshua Harmon, directed by Daniel Aukin.

In 2018-2019, Roundabout’s Broadway season will present Bernhardt/Hamlet, a new play by Theresa Rebeck, directed by Moritz von Stuelpnagel, starring Janet McTeer; True West by Sam Shepard, directed by James Macdonald, starring Ethan Hawke and Paul Dano; and Kiss Me, Kate, directed by Scott Ellis, starring Kelli O’Hara.

Off-Broadway in 2018-2019, Roundabout will produce Apologia by Alexi Kaye Campbell, directed by Daniel Aukin, with Stockard Channing; Merrily We Roll Along by Stephen Sondheim and George Furth, directed by Noah Brody in a Fiasco Theater production; Toni Stone by Lydia R. Diamond, directed by Pam MacKinnon, with Uzo Aduba; and Usual Girls by Ming Peiffer, directed by Tyne Rafaeli at Roundabout Underground.