RUTKA—a new indie-rock musical adapted from Rutka’s Notebook: A Voice From the Holocaust,
a diary kept by 14-year-old Rutka Laskier in 1943 while living in the
Jewish Ghetto in Bedzin, Poland—officially opens at the
Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park October 17 following previews that began October 13.
Directed by Wendy C. Goldberg, the world premiere is playing a limited engagement through November 10.
The cast features Ben Cherry (Indecent) as Yaacov, Lana Schwartz (Endangered) as Rutka Laskier, Zoe Siegel (In Corpo) as Micka, Jacob Ben-Shmuel (The Book of Mormon national tour) as Mordechai, Delaney Brown (Jagged Little Pill national tour) as Stasia, Yael Chanukov (Fiddler on the Roof in Yiddish) as Tusia, Julia Ty Goldberg as Nina, Dillon Klena (Jagged Little Pill national tour) as Lolek, Sabrina Koss as Linka, Bex Odorisio (Hadestown national tour) as Dvorah, Ayden Weinstein as Janek, David Whalen as The Soldier, and Jacob (Kov) Zelonsky (Billy Elliot The Musical national tour) as Mulek. The understudies are Luka Ashley Carter, Hannah Ervin, Sara Mackie, and Tai Rosenblatt.
RUTKA has music and lyrics by recording artists Jocelyn Mackenzie and Jeremy Lloyd Styles, formerly of the Brooklyn-based Pearl and the Beard, with a book by Emmy nominee Neena Beber (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel).
In the new musical, Rutka’s world is consumed by the usual teen concerns, like friendships, gossip, a new haircut, and the flickers of first love—all of which she documents in her diary. But it’s 1943 in war-torn Poland as she and her friends are trying to live life as normally as possible while confined in the Jewish Ghetto.
Rutka Laskier's diary would remain hidden for 63
years until it was published in 2006.
The production will also features set design by Todd Rosenthal, costume design by Jen Caprio, lighting design by Josh Epstein, sound design by Connor Wang, projection design by Yee Eun Nam, choreography by Patrick McCollum, music direction by Sharon Kenny, orchestrations and arrangements are by Nathan Koci, stage management by Andrea L. Shell, and casting by Daryl Eisenberg.
The world premiere is presented by arrangement with Amy Langer and David Schwartz of Think System Productions and executive producer Cody Lassen. The co-producers are Eliot Horowitz, David S. Stone, Todd Rosen, and Greg Steinbruner and Tami Stronach.
General management is by KGM Theatrical.
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