Little House on the Prairie Tour, Starring Melissa Gilbert, Announces Full Cast

Full casting has been announced for the new national tour of the musical, Little House on the Prairie, which will kick off at the Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn, New Jersey September 10-October 10. Francesca Zambello will direct.

As previously announced, Steve Blanchard, Melissa Gilbert, and Kara Lindsay — who respectively starred as Pa, Ma, and Laura Ingalls in the world premiere engagement of Little House on the Prairie at the Guthrie Theatre last season — will headline the production. The principal cast will also include Kevin Massey (Almanzo Wilder), Kate Loprest (Nellie Oleson), Alessa Neeck (Mary), and Carly Rose Sonenclar (Carrie Ingalls). The cast will also feature Taylor Bera, Michael Boxleitner, Megan Campanile, Kurt Engh, Shawn Hamilton, Jessica Hershberg, Meredith Inglesby, Caroline Innerbichler, Lizzie Klemper, Garen McRoberts, Brian Muller, Will Ray, Gayle Samuels, Dustin Sullivan, Todd Thurston, Tony Vierling, and Christian Whelan.

Based on the novels of Laura Ingalls Wilder, the show features music by Academy Award winner Rachel Portman, lyrics by Donna di Novelli and a book by Tony Award winner Rachel Sheinkin. The design team includes Adrianne Lobel (sets), Mark McCullough (lighting), and Jess Goldstein (costumes).

Following the engagement at Paper Mill, the work will play more than 30 additional cities in 2009 and 2010, including Minneapolis-St. Paul, Denver, Toronto, Houston, Tempe, and Sacramento.

Paper Mill’s season will also include the Leonard Benstein-Betty Comden-Adolph Green musical (November 11-December 6); Neil Simon’s award-winning family drama Lost in Yonkers (February 17-March 14), the musical revue Smokey Joe’s Cafe (April 7-May 2), and the musical Peter Pan, based on the play by JM Barrie (June 2-27).

For more information, call 973-376-4343 or visit www.papermill.org.