When I saw 9 to 5 on Septembe 4th, I asked the security guard if he knew what was going in after White Christmas and he said it was between Minskys and CMIYC. Aaron Tveit is also contracted in N2N until February and I imagine that he would be in the show still.
Aren't half the cast and crew signed on to do other things? O'Brien and Mitchell have LND opening in London in March. Tveit is with N2N (until February, at least). Kerry Butler is with Rock of Ages until March, at least. Norbert Leo Butz has his TV show, which, last I heard, might be filming in Dallas. And Rachel de Benedet joined the ensemble of Addams Family.
Conventional wisdom, based on the fact that most of the creative team is working on Love Never Dies this spring, suggests a fall opening.
Also, don't be fooled by the line in the audition notice about all roles being available. There is no way they'll open the show on Broadway without Tveit, Butz, Wopat, and Butler. They may recast some of the other roles, but I would be SHOCKED if those aforementioned performers did not open this show, especially given the reviews the performers received.
Last night Aaron said that they were hoping to open in the Spring, but like adamgreer said, I wouldn't be surprised if they opened in the fall either because of the creative team's schedule.
Would the audition notice be different if they were casting a stand-by or understudy? They'll need to cast Aaron and Norbert's understudies so perhaps that's what they meant by "all roles open". Just a thought!
They have to say that unless the roles have been officially offered and accepted...since they haven't set a date for the Broadway run yet they haven't formally offered the roles to the actors. It's possible they could get understudies from that call, but they did the same thing with Next to Normal even though that entire cast transferred with the production.
^I was about to say that: without an official offer and signed contract, all parts ARE technically available -- on paper.
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