Lora Lee Gayer, Adam Chanler-Berat, Judy Kuhn to Star in Unknown Soldier at Arena Stage

Arena Stage has announced casting for its production of Unknown Soldier, a musical by Michael Friedman and Daniel Goldstein.

One of the final shows penned by Friedman, Unknown Soldier premiered in 2015 at Williamstown Theatre Festival and received a posthumous off-Broadway run in 2020, which was curtailed by Covid. Trip Cullman, who helmed both productions, returns to the show for the Arena run.

Returning to the show four years later are original cast members Kerstin Anderson and Perry Sherman, who will once again play Lucy Lemay and Francis, alongside Lora Lee Gayer as Ellen Rabinowitz, Adam Chanler-Berat as Andrew, Riglee Ruth Bryson as Lucy Rabinowitz/Young Ellen, Judy Kuhn as Lucy Anderson, and Nehal Joshi as Doctor. Rounding out the cast are Amy Griffin, Candice Shedd-Thompson, Jordyn Taylor, Wood Van Meter, Elizabeth Vargo, Ronald Joe Williams, Taylor Witt, and Sumié Yotsukura.

The creative team remains the same, including choreographer Patrick McCollum, set designer Mark Wendland, costume designer Jacob A. Climer, lighting designer Ben Stanton, sound designer Leon Rothenberg, projection designer Lucy Mackinnon, and hair, wig, and makeup designer J. Jared Janas. Julie McBride and Marco Paguia are music supervisors and Chris Kong is musical director.  Orchestrations are by Friedman and Paguia.

Spanning three generations, Unknown Soldier follows a woman’s journey to unearth the secrets of her family’s past after she discovers a mysterious photo of an anonymous soldier tucked in a box of keepsakes. Dates for the Arena run are March 29-May 5.