Lenny Wolpe Has Been Seen in Broadway's Wicked and The Drowsy Chaperone,
Jared Grimes Has Recently Been in After Midnight On Broadway and Twist,
Both Will be Appearing in the Brand New Production at Radio City Music Hall
Limited 7 Week Engagement
Begins Previews March 12, 2015
Opens on March 26 and Runs Through May 3, 2015
NEW YORK, Jan. 22, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- MSG Entertainment (MSGE) announced today that Lenny Wolpe and Jared Grimes are joining the cast of New York Spring Spectacular, the highly-anticipated new production at Radio City Music Hall. Wolpe will play the central role of Bernie, a seasoned New York City tour guide that is at risk of losing his job and Grimes will play Marshall, Vice President of Jenna World and right-hand man to Jenna, played by Laura Benanti. New York Spring Spectacular, presented by Chase, at Radio City Music Hall, will debut in March 2015 and is jointly produced by Madison Square Garden Entertainment and Weinstein Live Entertainment. The limited seven week engagement begins previews on March 12, 2015 and runs through May 3, 2015. Tickets on sale now at www.rockettes.com/spring.
"I'm so thrilled that Lenny Wolpe and Jared Grimes are joining the incredible cast of New York Spring Spectacular," says Warren Carlyle, director and choreographer of the brand new show at Radio City Music Hall. "Lenny and Jared are such talented performers and legends in their own right ... they both will be bringing a tremendous amount of energy and talent to the Great Stage. We are so proud to be featuring actors, singers and dancers that are truly at the top of their game."
Jared Grimes and Lenny Wolpe will be joining an all-star cast in New York Spring Spectacular that includes Tony winning-actress Laura Benanti starring as the female lead, Jenna, Derek Hough as the male lead, Jack, Bella Thorne as the voice of the Alice in Wonderland Statue, Whoopi Goldberg voicing the Statue of Liberty, with celebrity cameos by Carmelo Anthony, Donald Trump, Martha Stewart and Henrik Lundqvist and many others.
The role of Bernie in New York Spring Spectacular will be played by Lenny Wolpe, an actor whose Broadway credits include Bullets Over Broadway, Wicked, The Drowsy Chaperone, The Sound of Music, Mayor, Into the Light and Copperfield. Wolpe has also appeared in the national tours for The Little Shop of Horrors, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum and South Pacific. In addition to his on-stage roles, Wolpe has guest starred in more than 80 television programs such as Six Feet Under and Chappelle's Show.
Jared Grimes has been cast in the role of Marshall, Jenna's right hand man and Vice President of Jenna World. Grimes is an actor, singer and dancer who has toured with artists including Mariah Carey and Wynton Marsalis. His television and movie credits include The Marc Pease Experience, Boardwalk Empire and Fringe. Grimes has also appeared on stage in Twist, Babes in Arms, Gentleman Prefer Blondes and has worked with New York Spring Spectacular director Warren Carlyle in After Midnight on Broadway, receiving the 2014 Fred & Adele Astaire Award for Best Male Dancer for that performance.
The New York Spring Spectacular, an all-new show at Radio City Music Hall, takes audiences on a whirlwind adventure across New York City while telling an inspiring and hopeful narrative about three New Yorkers who change each other's lives in unexpectedly wonderful ways. Writer Joshua Harmon has fashioned a heartwarming and wondrous journey through New York City.
Bernie has been giving old fashioned tours of New York for decades, but his company was just bought by Jenna, a whipsmart techie with plans to fire Bernie and turn his tours into a virtual reality wonderland. Bernie's in trouble. Enter Jack, a spirited young man with a secret agenda of his own: If he can help Bernie keep his job, Jack will get an eternal reward.
With the assistance of the legendary Rockettes, and guest appearances by some of your favorite New Yorkers, Bernie takes Jenna-- and the audience-- on the tour of a lifetime, from the Statue of Liberty to Central Park to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. By the last stop of this whirlwind adventure, these three people will be forever changed, and they will never look at the city the same way again.
Bursting with invigorating new Rockettes dance numbers, incredible 3D special effects, sophisticated large-scale puppetry and an exciting soundtrack of original songs, classics and pop hits, the New York Spring Spectacular is as rejuvenating, energetic and uplifting as spring itself – and a reminder that while things may change, nothing can take away the timeless magic and romance of the one and only New York City!
The New York Spring Spectacular is led by Director and Choreographer Warren Carlyle, a Tony and Drama Desk Award winning director and choreographer, including for such popular Broadway productions as The Mystery of Edwin Drood, A Christmas Story: The Musical and After Midnight, which he also directed and for which he won both the Tony Award and Drama Desk Award for Best Choreographer. Working by his side are Co-Creative Directors Diane Paulus and Randy Weiner. Paulus is a Tony Award winning Director for the A.R.T.'s Pippin and was among 2014's TIME 100, TIME Magazine's annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world. Weiner is the creator of the Off-Broadway extravaganza Queen of the Night at the Paramount Hotel and is a frequent collaborator with Paulus, most recently working together to create Amaluna for Cirque Du Soleil. Weiner is also the producer of the Drama Desk Award winning New York premiere of Punchdrunk's Sleep No More. Writer Joshua Harmon made his professional New York playwriting debut with the critically acclaimed play Bad Jews, which was produced by Roundabout Underground and was the first play to transfer to the Roundabout's Laura Pels Theatre in October 2013. It received Outer Critics Circle and Lortel nominations for Best Play. Harmon earned degrees in playwriting from Northwestern and Carnegie Mellon and studied at Julliard's Lila Acheson Wallace American Playwrights program. Mia Michaels has been announced as Choreographer of the opening scene. Michaels is well-known for her work on the Fox Television, So You Think You Can Dance and has collaborated with artists such as Prince, Madonna and Celine Dion. Michaels will be choreographing the dynamic opening number of New York Spring Spectacular and will soon be lending her talents to the upcoming Broadway production of Finding Neverland. Variety Magazine named Michaels as "One of the Most Innovative Women" of 2013 and she's received multiple Emmy Awards for Outstanding Choreography.
Check out exclusive New York Spring Spectacular behind-the-scenes photos, videos and interviews at www.rockettes.com/spring, and follow Rockettes and New York Spring Spectacular on Facebook, @Rockettes on Twitter and @TheRockettes on Instagram for all the latest updates on the show.
The New York Spring Spectacular logo is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=29009.
Ticket Information
Preview performances of the New York Spring Spectacular begin March 12, 2015 at Radio City Music Hall®. Opens March 26, 2015 and runs for a limited engagement ending May 3, 2015. Prices range from $46 - $100 for previews and regular box office pricing from $50 - $150, depending on show date and time. Tickets are available online at www.rockettes.com/spring, by phone via Ticketmaster at 866-858-0007, or at Radio City's Box Office (50th St. & Avenue of the Americas). Group tickets of 9+ contact Group Sales at 212-465-6080 or group.sales@msg.com. Box Office hours are daily, 10:00 a.m. to 8:00pm. Tickets purchased via Ticketmaster are subject to service charges.
About MSG Entertainment
MSG Entertainment (MSGE), the live entertainment arm of The Madison Square Garden Company (Nasdaq:MSG), is a worldwide entertainment company recognized for its signature combination of event production and entertainment marketing. In addition to the nearly 900 entertainment concerts and events that take place each year at Radio City Music Hall, Madison Square Garden, The Theater at Madison Square Garden, the Beacon Theatre, The Chicago Theatre, and the Forum in Inglewood, California, MSGE has an exclusive co-booking agreement with Boston's Citi Performing Arts Center/ Wang Theatre. MSG Entertainment's live events include the Radio City Christmas Spectacular, which has played to more than 75 million people in 77 different cities across North America. More than five million people attend MSG Entertainment branded events annually including concerts, special events, and family attractions.
CONTACT: MSGE Press Contacts
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Weinstein Company
Brad Thompson brad.thompson@weinsteinco.com / (212) 590-7890
