Andréa Burns to Star in Alan Jay Lerner's Carmelina

The York Theatre Company has announced casting for Carmelina (January 26-February 3), which will open the 25th-anniversary season of the York's Musicals in Mufti series. This season honors the work of the legendary librettist and lyricist Alan Jay Lerner, whose 100th birthday was August 31, 2018.

Carmelina features music by Burton Lane, lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner, additional lyrics by Barry Harman, and a book by Joseph Stein and Alan Jay Lerner. Directed by Michael Leeds and with music direction by David Hancock Turner, the eight-member cast will feature Andréa Burns (In the Heights) in the title role, with Antonio Cipriano (Jagged Little Pill) as Roberto/Guitarist, MaryJoanna Grisso (West Side Story) as Gia Campbell/Hostess, Evan Harrington (Chicago) as Walter Braddock/Waiter, Anne L. Nathan (Once) as Rosa/Cook, Timothy John Smith (Candide) as Steve Karzinski/Waiter, Joey Sorge (A Bronx Tale) as Vittorio Dela Marta/Eduard, and additional casting to be announced for the role of Carlton Smith.

The production is described as follows: "In a picturesque Italian village, Carmelina has raised her teenaged daughter to believe her father was an American who died heroically in World War II — all the while collecting child support checks from three American soldiers, each of whom thinks he is the girl's father. Complications arise when all three soldiers show up at the same time for a reunion. Even though the original Broadway production ran for only 17 performances, the lush Lerner and Lane score received a 1979 Tony Award nomination for Best Score. The version of Carmelina presented here is the revised version created by Joseph Stein, Burton Lane, and Lerner protégé Barry Harman for The York in 1996, then further revised for a second Mufti presentation ten years later."

The production team for Carmelina includes lighting designer Stephen O'Shea, production manager Kevin Maloof, production stage manager Shanna Allison, and assistant stage manager Julianne Menassian.