Theater News

Morton, Reáux, Vidnovic, Youmans, et al. Set for Brundibár

Euan Morton
(Photo © Michael Portantiere)
Euan Morton
(Photo © Michael Portantiere)

Matt Farnsworth, Geoff Hoyle, Euan Morton, Angelina Reáux, Martin Vidnovic, and William Youmans will head the cast of the Berkeley Rep production of the one-act operas, Brundibár and Comedy on the Bridge by Pultizer Prize winner Tony Kushner (Angels in America) and legendary children’s book illustrator-author Maurice Sendak.

The production, to be directed by Berkeley Rep artistic director Tony Taccone, will run November 11-28, and officially open on November 16. The cast will also feature Anjali Bihmani, Hank DiGiovanni, Aaron Simon Gross, Devyn Pedell, and more than 25 local schoolchildren.

In addition to Sendak, who did the show’s production design, the creative team includes Kris Stone (scenic design), Robin I. Shane (costume design), Donald Holder (lighting), Rob Milburn and Michael Bodeen (sound design), and Valerie Gelbert (musical direction).

The show is a co-production with Yale Repertory Theater in New Haven, where it will play February 10-March 5. It will then transfer to the New Victory Theater in New York, where it will run April 28-May 21. Some casting will change in each city.


Brundibár, which was first performed in 1938, is an allegory about innocence triumphing over evil. It was eventually performed by the children in Terezin, the Nazi concentration camp located not far from Prague. Comedy on the Bridge, also written in the 1930s, is about five ordinary people who find themselves trapped between two warring cities; while their visas allow them onto the bridge, they are not allowed off it.

Farnsworth has been seen on Broadway in Cats and Thoroughly Modern Millie. Hoyle is a member of the Pickle Family Circus and starred Off-Broadway with Bill Irwin in Mr. Fox: A Rumination. Morton received Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle and Olivier nominations for his portrayal of Boy George in Taboo, and will appear on October 22 at Town Hall as part of the Broadway Cabaret Festival. Reáux is one of the world’s leading sopranos, specializing in the work of Kurt Weill. Vidnovic received a Tony nomination for Brigadoon and has starred on Broadway in Baby, The King and I, and Oklahoma! Youmans was an original cast member of Wicked and was recently seen Off-Broadway in Miracle Brothers.