Tony Winner Anika Noni Rose to Lead Classic Stage Company's Carmen Jones
(© David Gordon)
Classic Stage Company has announced that Tony Award winner Anika Noni Rose will play the title role in the company's new production of the musical Carmen Jones, beginning performances June 8. Directed by CSC's Tony Award-winning artistic director John Doyle and choreographed by Tony Award winner Bill T. Jones, Carmen Jones features book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II and music by Georges Bizet.
Carmen Jones will mark the finale of CSC's 50th anniversary season. The first major New York revival of the musical since its Broadway debut 75 years ago, Carmen Jones will play a limited engagement through Sunday, July 29.
Joining Rose in the cast are David Aron Damane (Husky Miller), Erica Dorfler (Myrt), Andrea Jones-Sojola (Sally), Justin Keyes (Rum), Lindsay Roberts (Cindy Lou), Soara-Joye Ross (Frankie), Lawrence E. Street (Dink) and Tramell Tillman (Sergeant Brown). The role of Joe will be cast shortly.
Set in the South as World War II rages overseas, Carmen Jones tells the story of a tempestuous parachute factory worker who ignites her own battle in a tragic love triangle with an airman and a prizefighter. Adapted from Bizet's legendary opera Carmen, Hammerstein shifted the story from Spain to World War II America, featuring an all African-American cast. Carmen Jones premiered on Broadway in 1943 and ran for over 500 performances.
Scenic design will be by Tony Award winner Scott Pask, costumes by Tony Award winner Ann Hould-Ward, lighting by Adam Honoré, and sound by Dan Moses Shreier.
