Full Cast, Creative Team Announced for South Coast Rep’s An Italian Straw Hat

Full casting and creative team information has been announced for South Coast Repertory’s world premiere musical, An Italian Straw Hat: A Vaudeville, by John Strand (book and lyrics) and Dennis McCarthy (music). Stefan Novinski will direct the production, which runs September 5-October 5, with an opening September 12.

Adapted from the classic farce by Eugene Labiche, and set in early 1900s New York, the piece incorporates flavors not only of vaudeville but of ragtime, light opera, and barbershop quartet. In it, a hapless bridegroom’s horse has eaten a young lady’s hat, sending him on a frantic search to replace the hat or his wedding will be derailed.

Daniel Blinkoff stars as the bridegroom, Fadley, and the cast will also include
Alan Blumenfeld (Felix/Beauperthuis), Richard Doyle (Noncort), Michelle Duffy (Annabelle/Baroness), Patrick Kerr (Uncle Fez/Viscount), Damon Kirsche (Emile/Nisnardi), Matthew Koehler (Bobby), Kasey Mahaffy (Tardiveau/Farnsworth), Melissa van der Schyff (Virgina/Clara) and Erika Whalen (Helen).

The creative team will include Dennis Castellano (musical direction), Christine Kellogg (musical staging), Donna Marquet (set design), Shigeru Yaji (costume design), Lonnie Rafael Alcaraz (lighting design), and Drew Dalzell (sound design).

For more information, visit www.southcoastrepertory.com.