‘Be More Chill’ Composer Joe Iconis’ New Musical Sets Off-Broadway Premiere; ‘Orange Is The New Black’ Actress To Star
EXCLUSIVE: New musical Broadway Bounty Hunter from Be More Chill composer Joe Iconis will get its New York premiere Off Broadway this summer with Orange is the New Black actress Annie Golden reprising her critically acclaimed lead performance.
The new musical will begin previews Tuesday, July 9 at Greenwich House Theater in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village, with an opening night of Tuesday, July 23. The 10-week limited engagement will run through Sunday, Sept. 15, say producers Jennifer Ashley Tepper and Allison Bressi, who made the announcement today.
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Iconis’ follow-up to the viral phenomenon Be More Chill – which began previews on Broadway last week following last summer’s sold-out Off Broadway engagement – Broadway Bounty Hunter had its world premiere in 2016 at Barrington Stage, the regional theater in Berkshire County, Massachusetts.
The Off Broadway production will be directed and choreographed by Iconis’ frequent collaborator Jennifer Werner (she’s also doing his in-development Punk Rock Girl) with the full 12-member cast to be announced soon.
Annie Golden
Inspired by 1970s-era exploitation movies, Broadway Bounty Hunter follows Golden’s Annie, a down-on-her-luck actress of a certain age who is asked to become a bounty hunter and capture a South American drug lord. The production describes the musical as “a woman’s journey to find her inner strength and true badass identity – and save the theatre.”
With music and lyrics by Iconis (whose credits also include NBC’s Smash), Broadway Bounty Hunter features a book by Iconis, Lance Rubin and Be More Chill actor Jason SweetTooth Williams.
The creative team for the Off Broadway production also includes scenic designer Michael Schweikardt, lighting designers Jules Fisher and Peggy Eisenhauer, costume and wig designer Sarafina Bush, projection designer Brad Peterson, sound designer Cody Spencer, music supervisor and orchestrator Charlie Rosen, vocal arranger Joel Waggoner, music director Geoffrey Ko, and artistic consultant Nehemiah Luckett.
Golden, who shared a SAG Award with the Orange is the New Black ensemble cast, played Norma Romano for four seasons of the Netflix series. She appeared on Broadway in a 1977 revival of Hair (and starred in Milos Forman’s 1979 film version). Other Broadway credits include The Full Monty and Violet, among others, and she originated the role of Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme in Stephen Sondheim’s Assassins Off-Broadway.
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