The Weekend Report: Goodspeed South Pacific Casting; Caroline, or Change Authors Honored

Welcome to TheaterMania's Weekend Report, where you'll find recent news stories from the New York theater scene and beyond.

Bali Ha'i Is Calling

Erin Mackey, Branch Fields, and Tony nominee Loretta Ables Sayre will star in the Goodspeed Musicals production of South Pacific. With a music by RIchard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, and a book by Hammerstein and Joshua Logan, the production is expected to run April 17-June 28. Rob Ruggerio directs the musical in East Haddam, Connecticut.

Mackey will play Nellie Forbush, Fields will play Emile de Becque, and Sayre will return to the role of Bloody Mary, which she first played at Lincoln Center Theater in 2008. They will be joined by Erica Wong as Liat, Cameron Johnson as Lt. Joseph Cable, Chad Jennings as Luther Billis, Claudia Lilith Fabella as Ngana, Samuel Li Weintraub as Jerome, James Michael Reilly as Capt. George Brackett, and Dallyn Vail Bayles as Cmdr. William Harbison.

The ensemble will include Kelly Berman, Hunter Brown, Vince Fazzolari, Andrew Foote, Leigh Martha Klinger, Jennifer Lorae, Alexa Jane Lowis, Datus Puryear, Brent Thiessen, Damian Thompson, John Wascavage, and Jake Wood. The swings will be Josh Kolb and Magdalena Rodriguez. Amy Jo Phillips will understudy the role of Bloody Mary. Emma Kindl will understudy Ngana/Jerome and Irene Lo will understudy Liat.

Ralph Perkins serves as choreographer, with Adam Souza serving as musical director.

Mackey and Sayre played these roles in 2014 at Paper Mill Playhouse in 2014.

Announcements

• Caroline, or Change scribes Tony Kushner and Jeanine Tesori will be honored at the 2020 New Dramatists spring luncheon, to be held May 21 at the Marriott Marquis.

• Simone Black, Shani Farrell, Jade Guerra, Diego Klock-Pérez, Jacqui Parker, Casey Preston, Damon Singletary, and Stewart Evan Smith will star in Lynn Nottage's Fabulation, or The Re-Education of Undine at Boston's Lyric Stage Company, expected to run April 3-May 3 under the direction of Dawn M. Simmons.

• Beetlejuice stars Alex Brightman and Leslie Kritzer are expected to announce the Drama League Award nominations, which were originally set to be revealed on April 16.

Photo Call

See what happened around town this week: