Theater News

Wicked's Shoshana Bean to Star in Pre-Broadway Tryout of Beaches Musical

Iris Rainer Dart’s classic story will come to the stage in Chicago before moving to the Big Apple.

Shoshana Bean will play Cee Cee Bloom in the Chicago pre-Broadway staging of the new musical Beaches.
Shoshana Bean will play Cee Cee Bloom in the Chicago pre-Broadway staging of the new musical Beaches.

Broadway vets Shoshana Bean (Wicked) and Whitney Bashor (The Bridges of Madison County) will star in the upcoming Chicago mounting of the new musical Beaches. Billed as a pre-Broadway run, the show will play the Drury Lane Theatre from June 24-August 16, 2015.

Bean and Bashor will take on the roles of Cee Cee Bloom and Bertie, whose friendship from childhood to adulthood is charted over the course of the show. Directed by Eric Shaeffer, the musical is inspired by Iris Rainer Dart's novel and features music by David Austin, lyrics by Dart, and a book by Dart and Thom Thomas.

The full cast also includes Travis Taylor as John Perry, Nancy Voigts as Leona Bloom, Kelly Anne Clark as Rose White, Jim DeSelm as Michael Barron, Michael Accardo as Nathan Bloom, Andrew Varela as Arthur, Samantha Pauly as Teen Cee Cee, Olivia Renteria as Teen Bertie, Presley Ryan as Little Cee Cee, Brooklyn Schuck as Little Bertie/Nina. and William Carlos Angulo, Heather Brorsen, Josh Kohane, Christine Mild, and Holly Strauder.

Beaches will be choreographed by Lorin Latarro, with musical direction by Brian Nash. The creative team also includes scenic designer Derek McLane, costume designer Alejo Vietti, lighting designer Howell Binkley, and sound designer Kai Harada.

The story is perhaps best known from its 1988 film adaptation, which starred Bette Midler and Barbara Hershey. The musical version premiered in 2014 at Signature Theatre in Virginia with Alysha Umphress (On the Town) as Cee Cee and Mara Davi (A Chorus Line) as Bertie.

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Beaches

Closed: August 16, 2015