Carolee Carmello to Star in Signature’s Saving Aimee
(© Joan Marcus)
Carolee Carmello will star as Aimee Semple McPherson in the Signature Theatre’s production of Saving Aimee, the new musical about famed evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson. The production, to run April 10-May 13, will be directed by Eric Schaeffer; he helmed the workshop production of the show in 2005 in White Plains, New York, which also starred Carmello.
With book and lyrics by Kathie Lee Gifford and music by David Pomeranz, Saving Aimee traces McPherson’s life from her birth in 1890 through her dogmatic and repressive childhood to her conversion to Pentecostalism at 17, her widowhood at 19, her ascension to personal and spiritual power as the charismatic leader of the Four Square Gospel Church, and finally, to her trial for corruption of morals and her tragic death of an accidental overdose in 1944.
The cast also includes Florence Lacey as Mrs. Kennedy, Ed Dixon as Mr. Kennedy and Brother Bob, and E. Faye Butler as Emma Jo. The ensemble features Doug Bowles, James Gardiner, Larry Hylton, Ellen Marsh, Diego Prieto, Meghan Tourey, Tammy Roberts, and Harry A. Winter.
Carmello’ is currently starring in Mamma Mia! Her many Broadway credits include Lestat and Parade, both of which earned her Tony Award nominations,as well as Kiss Me, Kate, Urinetown, and 1776.
Lacey’s credits include two Broadway revivals of Hello, Dolly, as well as Evita, and The Grand Tour. She and Dixon also appeared together Off-Broadway in Under the Bridge, also written by Gifford and Pomeranz. Butler was recently seen on stage in the La Jolla Playhouse production of The Wiz
Gifford is known primarily for her television work, most notably the Emmy-winning talk show Live! With Regis and Kathie Lee. She is also a well-known singer and recording artist. Gifford starred on Broadway in Putting it Together and in the Helen Hayes Theater Company’s production of Thumbs.
