Bullets over Broadway
In 1928, David Shayne (Zach Braff) is an idealistic young playwright newly arrived on Broadway. In order to gain financing for his play, God of Our Fathers, he agrees to hire Olive Neal ( Helen Yorke), the actress/girlfriend of a gangster.
Run
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Dates
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Type & Version
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Theatre
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Apr 10, 2014 – Aug 24, 2014
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Musical, Original
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St. James Theatre, New York, NY
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Synopsis
Now Olive is demanding and talentless, but her gangster escort Cheech (Nick Cordero) turns out to be a genius, who constantly comes up with excellent ideas for revising the play. As the players prepare for opening night, Shayne is soon in over his head claiming Cheech’s rewrites as his own, cheating on his partner Ellen (Betsy Wolfe) with the show’s seductive, alcoholic leading lady Helen Sinclair (Marin Mazzie), and facing his leading man, a compulsive eater (Brooks Ashmanskas), beginning an affair with Olive.
Cast
| Brooks Ashmanskas (Warner Purcell)Broadway: Promises, Promises (Rob Ashford, director), Present Laughter (Nicholas Martin, dir.), The Ritz (Joe Mantello, dir.), Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me (Scott Wittman, dir; Tony®, Drama Desk nominations), The Producers (Susan Stroman, dir.), Gypsy (Sam Mendes, dir.), Little Me (Rob Marshall, dir.), Dream (Wayne Cilento, dir.), How To Succeed… (1996; Des McAnuff, dir.). Film: Julie And Julia (Nora Ephron, dir.). TV: The Good Wife. BA from Bennington College. | |
| Zach Braff (David Shayne)will make his Broadway debut in the world premiere musical adaptation of Bullets over Broadway. He most recently starred in the London premiere of his own play All New People. New York stage experience includes roles in Paul Weitz’s play Trust at Second Stage and Public Theater’s productions of Twelfth Night and Macbeth directed by George C. Wolfe. His feature film writing and directorial debut, Garden State, premiered at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival and earned him a coveted WGA nomination for Best Original Screenplay. The film also received the Independent Spirit Award for Best First Feature as well as a nomination for Best First Screenplay. | |
| Nick Cordero (Cheech)Broadway: Rock Of Ages (“Dennis”). Off-Broadway: The Toxic Avenger (“Toxie”). Tours: Rock Of Ages (1st Nat’l). Regional: The Toxic Avenger (George St. Playhouse), Little Shop of Horrors (KCRep), Pirates Of Penzance (BRT). Other select credits: The Last 5 Years, Equus, Blood Brothers, City Of Angels, Evita. TV/Film: Queer As Folk (Showtime). | |
| Vincent Pastore (Nick Valenti)Vincent Pastore made his Broadway debut as “Amos Hart” in the long running hit musical Chicago. He recently appeared in the regional production of Guys and Dolls with the Indiana Symphony Orchestra as narrator “Big Julie” and as narrator “Fat Frankie” in The Rascals: Once Upon A Dream. Off Broadway credits include Lampost Reunion, Golden Boy and Italian Bred. He is the author of the full length play Wild Children which enjoyed a sold out run at the Nyack Village Theater. Recent television credits include: The Sopranos (HBO), Blue Bloods (CBS), | |
| Betsy Wolfe (Ellen)Betsy created the role of “Rosa Bud” in the Tony Award® nominated Roundabout revival of The Mystery of Edwin Drood this season, and most recently played “Cathy” in the box office record-breaking Off-Broadway revival of The Last 5 Years at Second Stage. Other New York roles include “Beth” in Merrily We Roll Along at Encores. She created the role of “Mary Ann Singleton” in ACT’s World Premiere of Tales of the City, a musical based on Armistead Maupin’s novels, with music by the Scissor Sisters. Before Drood, she was last seen on Broadway in Everyday Rapture with Sherie Rene Scott, a show she also performed Off-Broadway in 2009. Other Broadway credits include 110 in the Shade at Studio 54, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, and Wonderful Life. | |
| Lenny Wolpe (Julian Marx)Lenny Wolpe is currently starring in the hit Off-Broadway comedy Old Jews Telling Jokes. Broadway: Wicked (“Wizard”), The Drowsy Chaperone, The Sound of Music, Mayor, Copperfield, Into the Light, Onward Victoria. National tours: Wicked, Little Shop of Horrors, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, South Pacific, Guys & Dolls. Regional: Paper Mill, Goodspeed, St Louis Rep, Denver Center, Pasadena, Pioneer, Westport, Reprise L.A., McCarter. TV: series regular Baby Talk, You’re The One, 100 guest spots, from L.A. Law, ER, 6 Feet Under, to Roseanne, Golden Girls, Chappelle’s Show. | |
| Helene Yorke (Olive)Broadway: Grease (“Marty”). Off Broadway: Walmartopia (Minetta Lane), What’s That Smell… (Atlantic Theater Company); TV: 30 Rock (NBC), A Gifted Man (CBS), I Just Want My Pants Back, (MTV), Louie (FX), and Showtime’s upcoming series Masters of Sex. Film: Wifed Out, Darkroom. BFA in Musical Theatre, The University of Michigan |
Creative
| Book by | Woody Allen – based on the screenplay by Allen and Douglas McGrath for the 1994 film |
| Direction / Choreography | Susan Stroman |
| Set Design | Santo Loquasto |
| Costume Designer | William Ivey Long |
| Lighting Design | Donald Holder |
| Music Arrangements & Supervision | Glen Kelly |
| Sound Design | Peter Hylenski |
| Hair and Wig Design | Paul Huntley |
| Music Orchestrated | Doug Besterman |
| Musical Director / Vocal Arrangements | Andy Einhorn |
| Produced by | |
| Letty Aronson and Julian Schlossberg; Produced in association with Don’t Speak, LLC; Co – Producer: Edward Walson, LeRoy Schecter, Roy Furman, Broadway Across America, Just For Laughs Theatricals, Harold Newman and Jujamcyn Theaters (Jordan Roth: President; Paul Libin: Executive Vice President; Jack Viertel: Senior Vice President) | |
Full Cast
| Zach Braff | David Shayne | |
| Marin Mazzie | Helen Sinclair |
| Clyde Alves | Ensemble | |
| Brooks Ashmanskas | Warner Purcell | |
| Jim Borstelmann | Ensemble | |
| Nick Cordero | Cheech | |
| Janet Dickinson | Ensemble | |
| Kimberly Fauré | Ensemble | |
| Paige Faure | Ensemble | |
| Sarah L. Johnson | Ensemble | |
| Beth Johnson Nicely | Ensemble | |
| Andy Jones | Ensemble | |
| Amanda Kloots-Larsen | Ensemble | |
| Kevin Ligon | Ensemble | |
| Brittany Marcin | Ensemble | |
| James Moye | Ensemble | |
| Vincent Pastore | Nick Valenti | |
| Eric Santagata | Ensemble | |
| Betsy Wolfe | Ellen | |
| Lenny Wolpe | Julian Marx | |
| Heléne Yorke | Olive Neal |
Woody Allen
Woody Allen (born Allen Stewart Konigsberg; December 1, 1935) is an American screenwriter, director, actor, comedian, author, playwright, and musician whose career spans more than 50 years.
He worked as a comedy writer in the 1950s, writing jokes and scripts for television and publishing several books of short humour pieces. In the early 1960s, Allen began performing as a stand-up comic, emphasizing monologues rather than traditional jokes. As a comic, he developed the persona of an insecure, intellectual, fretful nebbish, which he insists is quite different from his real-life personality. In 2004, Comedy Central ranked Allen in fourth place on a list of the 100 greatest stand-up comics, while a UK survey ranked Allen as the third greatest comedian.
Allen has been nominated 23 times and won four Academy Awards: three for Best Original Screenplay and one for Best Director (Annie Hall (1978)). He has more screenwriting Academy Award nominations than any other writer. He has won nine British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Awards. Allen performs regularly as a jazz clarinettist at small venues in Manhattan. In 2011, PBS televised the film biography, Woody Allen: A Documentary, on the American Masters TV series, covering biographies of actors and writers who have had a profound impact on the nation’s popular culture
