The York Theatre Company launches its 50th anniversary season with a fall Musicals in Mufti series dedicated to Broadway composer-lyricist Cole Porter.
Fifty Million Frenchmen, with music and lyrics by Porter and a book by Herbert Fields (adapted by Tommy Krasker and Evans Haile), kicks off the celebration September 28–October 6.
Directed by Hans Friedrichs (The Drowsy Chaperone) with music direction by Haile, the 11-member cast will feature Sam Balzac (Promenade), David Michael Bevis (Memphis), Ashley Blanchet (Frozen), Cole Burden (The Bridges of Madison County), Kristy Cates (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory), Ray DeMattis (Enter Laughing), Andy Kelso (Kinky Boots), Wade McCollum (Wicked), Karen Murphy (Mary Poppins), Evy Ortiz (West Side Story), and Madeline Trumble (Newsies).
The band includes David Hancock Turner on second piano and Dan Erben on banjo.
READ: York Theatre Company’s Musicals in Mufti Series Will Celebrate Cole Porter With 3 Musicals
This boy-meets-girl musical, set in the City of Love, introduced such Porter favorites as “You Do Something to Me,” “You’ve Got That Thing,” and “The Tale of the Oyster.”
The production team includes lighting designer Reza Behjat, projection designer Chelsie McPhilimy, production manager George Xenos, production stage manager Chris Steckel, and assistant stage manager Kirsten Leigh Williams.
Casting for Fifty Million Frenchmen is by Binder Casting: Chad Eric Murnane, CSA.
