Gotta Dance World Premiere Cast and Creative Team Announced
Broadway In Chicago and Producers Dori Berinstein and Bill Damaschke announced the initial casting for Gotta Dance, the new Broadway-bound musical based on the critically acclaimed 2008 documentary about professional basketball's first ever aged 60-and-older dance team. Haven Burton, Lori Tan Chinn, Tony Award nominee Andre De Shields, five-time Emmy Award nominee Georgia Engel, Tony Award-winner Lillias White, television and film icon Stefanie Powers (making her Broadway debut) and Nancy Ticotin are set to star in the pre-Broadway World Premiere of Gotta Dance this winter at Broadway In Chicago's Bank of America Theatre (18 W Monroe St, Chicago). Gotta Dance begins performances on December 13, 2015 and runs through January 10, 2016.
Gotta Dance brings together an all-star creative team that includes a book by Tony Award-nominee Chad Beguelin (Aladdin) and Tony Award-winner Bob Martin (The Drowsy Chaperone), music by Tony Award nominee Matthew Sklar (Elf) and lyrics by Tony Award-nominee Nell Benjamin (Legally Blonde), with additional music by Marvin Hamlisch (an Emmy, Grammy, Tony and Oscar winner) and direction and choreography by Tony Award-winner Jerry Mitchell (Kinky Boots).
The creative team of Gotta Dance reunites Mitchell with his Kinky Boots collaborators, including five time Tony Award nominee David Rockwell (Scenic Design), Tony Award-winner Gregg Barnes (Costume Design) and Tony Award-winner Kenneth Posner (Lighting Design), along with Nick Kenkel (Co-Choreography), four-time Tony Award nominee Peter Hylenski (Sound Design), Tony Award-winner Larry Hochman (Orchestrations), Charlie Alterman (Musical Director) and Telsey + Company (Casting).
In 2007, one of the unlikeliest ideas ever to come out of professional sports resulted in the formation of basketball's first-ever dance team entirely made up of people over sixty. Over the coming months, bonds would be formed, generation gaps would be crossed, and, eventually, some pretty hot moves would be busted. The venue? Center court. The genre? Hip-hop. Gotta Dance tells the remarkable true story of these wildly diverse seniors with a common goal, the young coaches who help them achieve it, and a passion for dance that brings them all together. Gotta Dance is the age-defying blast of a musical that proves sometimes the biggest shot is the one you take late in the game.
Additional casting for the Gotta Dance company will be announced at a later date.