Waiting in the Wings: The Musical to Take It Off Off-Broadway

Waiting In The Wings: The Musical will make its off-Broadway debut at Theatre at St. Clements April 30-June 4.

Based on the 2014 film, it tells the story of two male performers, alike in name, who suffer an unexpected (but perhaps serendipitous) casting mix-up. According to an official description, “Tony, a stripper from New York, is accidentally cast in an Off-Broadway musical and needs to trade in his tear-away trunks for tap shoes and tights; and Anthony, a naive musical theater enthusiast from Montana, needs to decide if he can strip all the way down just to stay in town. Hilarity ensues as they realize that to make it, they’re going to have to learn some new tricks.  There is male rear nudity in this production.”

The show’s writer, Jeffrey A. Johns, will star as Anthony opposite Matthew Kleckner as Tony. Waiting in the Wings also features Zoe Schneider-Smith as Rita and Coleman Cummings as Lee.  The cast is rounded by with Katelyn Lauria as Delores, Jonathan Chisolm as Kelsey, Ryan Borgo as Peter, Devin Lee Pfeiffer as Trevor, Juliet Fischer as Tony’s mom, Alessandra Antonelli as Gina, Patrick Ball as Bob, Max Konnor as Michael, Nathan Hoty as Beau, Dante Giannetta as swing, Patrick MacLennan as swing, Gabbe Meloccaro as Candi/swing,  and Mikey Israel as Sub.

The show is written by Johns and Arie Gonzalez, with a score by Danny Abosch, Andrew Abrams, Anthony Asaro, Ken Clifton, Bobby Cronin, Jay Falzone, Mark-Eugene Garcia, Arie Gonzalez, Rob Hartmann, Caleb Hoyer, Trent Jeffords, Paul Louis, Anne Markt, Nick Santa Maria, Robert Shapiro, and Ruth Wallis.  Orchestrations are by Jeff Batdorf.

Jay Falzone directs a creative team that includes Jennifer Kornswiet (choreography), Jason Belanger (musical direction), Cliff Price (set design), Casey Duke (lighting design), and Dustin Cross (costume design). Alexis Hinman is the stage manager, with Adam Koob (assistant stage manager), Megan Warshovsky (assistant production manager), and Kevin Kearins (production manager/producer).

You can see a trailer from an earlier run of the musical here: