Pittsburgh CLO Casting Announced!

[matineeidol2013]

Posted: 5/19/12 at 3:42pm

Pittsburgh CLO has finally announced casting for their summer season! The 6 show season is bookended by the "Come Fly Away" and "Addams Family" tours, but CLO will be producing "A Chorus Line", "Annie", "Fiddler on the Roof", and "Sunset Boulevard".

http://pittsburghclo.org/pages/clo-shows

Take a look! Click on the show poster, then the 'cast' tab to find the bios and information.

[broadwaybabytn]

Posted: 5/19/12 at 4:04pm

Liz Callaway in Sunset sounds wonderful, even though in my head, she's still too young for the part. Sally Struthers as Hannigan sounds less wonderful, but maybe it'll get butts in seats.

[ACL2006]

Posted: 5/19/12 at 4:38pm

what a suprise, the entire A Chorus Line cast either appeared in the Broadway production or the national tour.

[Overkill]

Posted: 5/19/12 at 5:16pm

Lewis J. Stadlen as Tevye in Fiddler sounds like a lot of fun! Huge fan of his. I'm sure he'll be great.

I just had a friend who was in a regional production of ANNIE with Struthers a few months ago in Georgia (pretty sure Atlanta), and he said she nailed the role and was the nicest, most professional person he's ever worked with. I saw some pictures, she looked great, and she certainly seems right for Hannigan. I really think that people here look at her as a joke, for whatever reason...

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 5/19/12 at 5:22pm

Well of course, because Baayork is directing. She doesn't have to work too hard if the cast already knows all the choreography cold. I've done a production with Jake Weinstein as Mark and he's great. Excited he's doing this production.

[ACL2006]

Posted: 5/19/12 at 6:02pm

^^it's probably a good thing she's not doing the Papermill production. She would just have the Pittsburgh cast transfer over.

[matineeidol2013]

Posted: 5/19/12 at 6:11pm

I understand that CLO puts their shows up with 8 days of rehearsal. With all of the dancing in "A Chorus Line", it's probably a good thing they cast people who've done the show before.

[f13overture]

Posted: 5/20/12 at 2:50am

It's always fun seeing Tim Hartman perform! Glad he's in two shows this summer. He's one of Pittsburgh's finest actors.

Fiddler also managed to nab Lauren Woreham (who apparently gave a great performance in Encores! Where's Charley?) and Hunter Ryan Herdlicka (Henrik...Who is Henrik?).

The Pittsburgh CLO always does a good job whenever I happen to be in town and catch a show...and it's always interesting when you see a cast member who stood out on broadway/off-broadway/national tour a few years later!

[f13overture]

Posted: 5/20/12 at 2:51am

It's always fun seeing Tim Hartman perform! Glad he's in two shows this summer. He's one of Pittsburgh's finest actors.

Fiddler also managed to nab Lauren Woreham (who apparently gave a great performance in Encores! Where's Charley?) and Hunter Ryan Herdlicka (Henrik...Who is Henrik?).

The Pittsburgh CLO always does a good job whenever I happen to be in town and catch a show...and it's always interesting when you see a cast member who stood out on broadway/off-broadway/national tour a few years later!

[AEA AGMA SM]

Posted: 5/20/12 at 9:54am

"I understand that CLO puts their shows up with 8 days of rehearsal. With all of the dancing in "A Chorus Line", it's probably a good thing they cast people who've done the show before."

That is correct. For shows such as A Chorus Line and West Side Story, where the original choreography is recreated in just about any production out there, you'll see in the audition notices where they are only looking for actors who have done the show before. Otherwise there would be no way to put these shows up on a typical summer stock rehearsal schedule without severely limiting the choreography.

[broadwaybabytn]

Posted: 5/20/12 at 3:18pm

Overkill, thanks for your post about Struthers. That gives me a bit more confidence in her. All I can ever remember of her theatre work is the female version of ODD COUPLE and a replacement role in the 90s revival of GREASE. But she may be great as Hannigan.

[My Oh My]

Posted: 5/20/12 at 3:26pm

I'm jealous of you Pittsburgh peeps.

It's about time for my A Chorus Line fix.

[matineeidol2013]

Posted: 5/20/12 at 10:10pm

I saw Struthers play Carmen Bernstein in "Curtains" at CLO two years ago. She was wonderful, very very funny and electric on stage. Certainly one of the highlights of the production. I am excited to see her take on Hannigan.

Here is the Broadway World article for the casting:

Pittsburgh-CLO-Announces-Full-Casts-of-Local-Productions-Starring-Sally-Struthers-Hunter-Herdlicka-Liz-Callaway-and-More-20120520

[EponineAmneris]

Posted: 5/20/12 at 10:15pm

GREAT line up Can't wait!

[SondheimFan5]

Posted: 5/21/12 at 12:05am

Struthers is a very good Hannigan. Saw her in the tour.

[Bettyboy72]

Posted: 5/21/12 at 10:11am

Sally Struthers ALWAYS DELIVERS. There is a reason the woman works non-stop and is in demand. She arrives, works her ass off, delivers the goods and is wonderful to the entire creative team. She treats everyone like they are the star, right down to the chorus kids. She gets the work done with very little rehearsal time and is a quick study.

Young people can learn alot from her. No ego-she is there for the work. I consider it a gift whenever I see her perform.

[AEA AGMA SM]

Posted: 5/21/12 at 12:34pm

I've never understood the backlash Sally Struthers seems to receive on almost everything she does. It seems that pretty much anytime her casting is announced there are people who crawl out of the woodwork to deride it, only for those who actually end up seeing her giving her a good amount of praise for it.

And, as Bettyboy pointed out, there is indeed a reason why she works so much. In addition to being pretty talented by all accounts she is a delight to work with. I do not know anybody who has worked with her who has had anything bad to say. One stage manager who I'm acquaintances with, and is the resident stage manager at a dinner theatre known for bringing in numerous TV personalities of "a certain age," has said that Sally is one of her favorites and she looks forward to anytime she is cast.