| DANIEL BREAKER AND MERLE DANDRIDGE TO JOIN CAST OF "HADESTOWN" ON BROADWAY | |
| Last Edit: Official_Press_Release 10:16 am EST 01/11/25 | |
| Posted by: Official_Press_Release 09:57 am EST 01/11/25 | |
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| TONY AWARD NOMINEE DANIEL BREAKER AND SAG AWARD & GRAMMY AWARD NOMINEE MERLE DANDRIDGE TO JOIN THE CAST OF THE TONY AWARD®-WINNING BEST MUSICAL “HADESTOWN" ON BROADWAY Producers Mara Isaacs, Dale Franzen, Hunter Arnold, and Tom Kirdahy have announced that Tony Award nominee Daniel Breaker and BAFTA winner and SAG Award and Grammy Award nominee Merle Dandridge will join the cast of the Tony® and Grammy Award-winning Best Musical, Hadestown, on Broadway beginning Tuesday, February 18, 2025. Known for originating roles on Broadway in Shrek: The Musical and Passing Strange, as well as for his regular roles on Showtime's “Billions" and Peacock's “Girls 5Eva," Daniel Breaker will take over the role of ‘Hermes.' Known for her roles on HBO's “The Last of Us," ABC's “Station 19," and lead role opposite Oprah Winfrey on “Greenleaf," and seen on Broadway in Rent, Once on This Island, Aida, Spamalot, and more, Merle Dandridge will return to Broadway in the role of ‘Persephone.' They will succeed Lillias White and Allison Russell, respectively, who will both take their final bow in the production on February 16, 2025. Hadestown is playing its 5th year on Broadway at the Walter Kerr Theatre (219 W 48th Street). Tickets are available are the Walter Kerr box office and at www.seatgeek.com/hadestown-tickets. Hadestown currently stars Jordan Fisher as Orpheus, Lillias White as Hermes, Phillip Boykin as Hades, Maia Reficco as Eurydice, and Allison Russell as Persephone. They are joined by Shea Renee, Jessie Shelton, and Brit West as the Fates. The chorus of Workers is played by Emily Afton, Malcolm Armwood, Timothy H. Lee, Alex Puette and Grace Yoo. The cast includes swings Sojourner Brown, Brandon Cameron, KC Dela Cruz, Tara Jackson, Max Kumangai, and Tanner Ray Wilson. As previously announced, Hailey Kilgore will take over the role of Eurydice, Carlos Valdes will take over the role of Orpheus, and Tom Hewitt will take over the role of Hades on January 14, 2025. Hadestown originated as Anaïs Mitchell's indie theater project that toured Vermont which she then turned into an acclaimed album. With Rachel Chavkin, her artistic collaborator, Hadestown has been transformed into a genre-defying new musical that blends modern American folk music with New Orleans-inspired jazz to reimagine a sweeping ancient tale. Following two intertwining love stories — that of young dreamers Orpheus and Eurydice, and that of King Hades and his wife Persephone — Hadestown invites audiences on a hell-raising journey to the underworld and back. Mitchell's beguiling melodies and Chavkin's poetic imagination pit industry against nature, doubt against faith, and fear against love. Performed by a vibrant ensemble of actors, dancers, and singers, Hadestown delivers a deeply resonant and defiantly hopeful theatrical experience. Hadestown is now playing its long-awaited West End premiere at the Lyric Theatre, returning to London, six years after its 2018 engagement at the National Theatre, and the North American tour has just completed a 3-year run. Productions in Sydney, Melbourne, and Amsterdam will open in Spring 2025. BIOGRAPHIES Daniel Breaker (Hermes). Broadway: Hamilton, Book of Mormon, The Performers, Shrek: The Musical (Drama Desk Nomination), Passing Strange (Tony Award nomination, Drama Desk Nomination, Theatre World Award, AudelcoAward) Cymbeline, Well. Off-Broadway: Loves Labour's Lost; (Shakespeare in the Park) By The Way, Meet Vera Stark (Second Stage); Passing Strange (The Public Theater); Fabulation (Playwrights Horizons); Pericles (Red Bull, Culture Project). London: How to Act Around Cops (SoHo Theatre). Regional: Judgment Day (Chicago Shakespeare Theater), A Doctor in Spite of Himself (Intiman Theatre), Life is a Dream (South Coast Rep), The Comedy of Errors (Shakespeare Theatre Company; Helen Hayes Nomination),The Caucasian Chalk Circle (SCR), The Tempest (STC; Helen Hayes nomination), A Midsummer Night's Dream (STC), The Rivals (STC), The Silent Woman (STC), H.M.S. Pinafore (Berkshire Theater Festival), Black sheep (Barrington Stage), Sundance Theater Lab, 2005. Film: Sisters (with Tina Fey and Amy Poehler), Limitless (with Bradley Cooper & Robert De Niro), He's Way More Famous Than You, Redhook Summer (dir. Spike Lee), Passing Strange (Spike Lee). Television: “Billions," “Girls 5Eva," “The Good Fight," “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt," “Mozart in the Jungle," “Unforgettable," “Law & Order: Criminal Intent." Training: The Juilliard School. Merle Dandridge (Persephone) most recently starred as Desiree Armfeldt in the critically acclaimed production of A Little Night Music at the Pasadena Playhouse. Coming up, Merle has joined the cast of Amazon Prime Video's “Citadel" for season 2 of the series which comes out in 2025. Most recently on screen, Merle reprised her role of Marlene, leader of the fireflies, in HBO's adaptation of “The Last of Us," based on Naughty Dog's video game of the same name. “The Last of Us" recently received 24 Emmy nominations, including Outstanding Drama series. Merle can also be seen as Chief Ross in ABC's “Station 19." Merle starred as Grace Greenleaf opposite Oprah Winfrey in her hit series “Greenleaf" which ran for five seasons, and she recently appeared as Zarina Killebrew in Apple TV+'s “Truth Be Told." Other television includes HBO's “The Flight Attendant," FX's “Sons of Anarchy," CW's “Starcrossed," and NBC's “The Night Shift." In the video game space, she is known for Naughty Dog's “The Last of Us" and “The Last of Us Part II" as Marlene, the leader of Fireflies, Evelyn and the Nun in “Uncharted 4: A Thief's End," Legion Commander and Winter Wyvern in “Dota 2," Alyx Vance in “Half-Life 2," and Katherine Collins in “Everybody's Gone To The Rapture" for which she won the 2016 BAFTA for “Best Performer." Born in Japan, raised in Nebraska, and schooled in Chicago at Roosevelt University, Dandridge began her acting career with leading roles on Broadway in Spamalot (Lady of the Lake), Rent (Joanne), Aida (Aida), Tarzan (Kala) and Jesus Christ Superstar. More recently, Merle took on the role of Pharaoh in The Manhattan Concert Productions' presentation of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at Lincoln Center. She is also the first woman to play the role of Papa Ge in the Tony Award-winning Broadway revival of Ahrens and Flaherty's Once on This Island, which received a Grammy Award nomination for Best Musical Theater Album. She has toured the U.S. and Europe six times and has been featured in several regional theatre productions (including multiple stints at The Geffen and Pasadena Playhouse). She has also performed at The Hollywood Bowl, Boston Pops, and at Royal Albert Hall. Merle serves on the Board of Directors of The Geffen Playhouse and Harvest Home, which provides housing and holistic support to homeless pregnant women. |
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