ARROW ROCK, MO – The Arrow Rock Lyceum Theatre is pleased to announce casting for the first three productions of its 56th year of providing professional theatre to the heart of Missouri: Funny Girl, Oliver!, and 1776. The season continues with Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Nile, Ken Ludwig’s The Fox on the Fairway, The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial, Million Dollar Quartet and Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol.

Funny Girl (June 1 – June 11) will star Hannah Shankman as Fanny Brice, Mary Jo Mecca as Mrs. Brice, Cary Tedder as Eddie Ryan, and Lyceum favorites Jeffrey C. Wolfas Nick Arnstein and Michael McKenzie as Florenz Ziegfeld, Jr. A Lyceum Premiere of one of Broadway’s most acclaimed musicals, Funny Girl tells the story of legendary entertainer Fanny Brice’s rise to fame, from her start as a bit player in vaudeville to becoming a headliner in the famed Ziegfeld Follies.

Making her Lyceum debut as Fanny Brice is Hannah Shankman who has performed on Broadway in Wicked, Les Misérables, Side Show and Hair. In the West End Shankman has been seen in Hair and Homemade Fusion in Concert. Her national touring credits include Les Misérables and Rent. Playing Fanny’s mother is Mary Jo Mecca, making her Lyceum debut. Mecca’s credits include Pride & Prejudice (Center Stage), Brighton Beach Memoirs (Portland Stage), Superior Donuts (Geva Theatre), Mary Poppins, My Fair Lady, Big River(Sacramento Music Circus), Sweeney Todd (Casa Manana), White Christmas (Syracuse Stage), Little House on the Prairie (Guthrie Theatre), Man of La Mancha (Alabama Shakespeare), Amour (Goodspeed), Jekyll & Hyde (Alley Theatre), and  Jerry Herman’s Showtune (Pasadena Playhouse). Also making his Lyceum debut as Fanny’s friend, Eddie,Cary Tedder’s Broadway credits include The Times They Are A-Changin’, Memphis, Big Fish, Honeymoon In Vegas, and most recently Dames At Sea. Returning to the Lyceum for his ninth season to play Nick Arnstein is Jeffrey C. Wolf. Wolf’s many Lyceum appearances include King Arthur in Camelot C.K. Dexter Haven in The Philadelphia Story, Billy inAnything Goes and Carmen Ghia in The Producers. Also returning to the Lyceum Michael McKenzie will play famed producer, Florenz Zeigfeld, Jr. Lyceum credits include Henry Higgins in My Fair Lady, And Then There Were None, Meet Me in St Louis, Fiddler on the Roof, and The Nerd. Broadway credits include Waiting in the Wings, The Man Who Came to Dinner and Eastern Standard. Off-Broadway he was in Kari Floren’s A Late Supper, Voices of Swords and If Wishes Were Horses.

The cast also includes Abby Bartish (Ensemble), Estee Beck (Ensemble), Bailey Blaise(Emma/Ensemble), Paula Bear (Mrs. Meeker), Priscilla Curtis (Ensemble), Michael Brennan (John, the Stage Manager), Paula Danner (Mrs. O’Malley), Alex Hartman(Ensemble), Ryan Hook (Ensemble), Elliot Peterson (Ensemble), Jason Daniel Rath(Ensemble), Yvonne Strumecki (Mrs. Strakosh), Andrew Tighe (Ziegfeld Tenor/Ensemble), Joseph Tudor (Ensemble), Leslie Walker (Ensemble), Monica Woods(Ensemble), and Jeffrey Zicker (Tom Keeney/Mr. Renaldi/Ensemble).

The production team includes: Len Pfluger (Director), Sam Hay (Choreographer), James Woodland (Musical Director), Ryan J. Zirngibl (Resident Scenic Designer), Randy B. Winder (Resident Lighting Designer), Ryan Matthew Hall (Resident Sound Designer),Molly Akin (Costume Coordinator), Tony Dearing (Production Stage Manager), and Ivan Dario Cano (Assistant Stage Manager).

Oliver! (June 18 – June 26) stars Columbia’s own Spencer Rainwater as Oliver Twist, Lyceum favorite Don Richard as Fagin, Emily Afton as Nancy, Cole Nowlin as The Artful Dodger, and Arthur Lazalde as Bill Sykes. Oliver! takes audiences on a wild adventure as young, orphaned Oliver Twist navigates London’s underworld of theft and violence, searching for a home, a family, and, most importantly, for love.

Playing Oliver Twist, Spencer Rainwater returns to the Lyceum after having performed inA Christmas Carol, The Will Rogers Follies, The Music Man and The Wizard of Oz. Also returning to the Lyceum is Don Richard in the pivotal role of Fagin. Richard has been seen on Broadway in the original casts of Jane Eyre, Urinetown and most recently, the revival ofSide Show. For seven years, he toured America and Canada with Wicked, and also appeared in the national tour of Sunset Boulevard featuring Petula Clark. Making her Lyceum debut in the role of Nancy, Emily Afton has performed on Broadway in Hair and on the National Tours of Hair, Priscilla Queen of the Desert, and I Love a Piano. Regional credits includeWaitress (A.R.T.), A Funny Thing…Forum (Goodspeed), and Les Miserables (Maine State). Playing the Artful Dodger, Cole Nowlin returns to the Lyceum after appearing as Gavroche in last season’s Les Misérables. Other Lyceum appearances include A Christmas Carol, The King and I, and The Wizard of Oz. Making his Lyceum debut as Bill Sykes is Arthur Lazalde whose Off-Broadway credits include The Widowing of Mrs. Holroyd (Mint Theatre Company), and As You Like It (Harold Clurman Theatre Lab).  Additional credits include the national tours of Man of La Mancha and Guys and Dolls, Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk (Metropolitan Opera), Lombardi (The Milwaukee Rep), Three Musketeers (Cape Fear Regional Theatre),Coriolanus (Oregon Shakespeare Festival), 1776 (Utah Shakespeare Festival), and Taming Of The Shrew, Measure For Measure, The Winter’s Tale, Merry Wives of Windsor (Texas Shakespeare Festival).

The cast also includes Bailey Blaise (Charlotte/Ensemble), Bob Bohon (Bumble The Beadle), Dakota Mackey-McGee (Bet/Ensemble), Michael McKenzie (Mr. Brownlow), Judi Mann (Mrs. Sowerberry/Mrs. Bedwin), Nollie Moore (Ensemble),Elliot Peterson (Noah Claypole),  Yvonne Strumecki (Widow Corney), Joseph Tudor(Ensemble), Leslie Walker (Ensemble), Jeffrey C. Wolf (Mr. Sowerberry/Mr. Grimwig),Monica Woods (Ensemble) and Jeffrey Zicker (Ensemble).

Playing the children of the workhouse and Fagin’s gang are Keegan Adkins, Isabel Alvizo, Claire Glaude, Garrett Boyce, Lilian Buie, Simeon Buie, Cailyn Chaney, Sophia Christie, Zeb Fulcher, Camdyn Garber, Lauren Kennon, Amanda Kurukulasuriya, Wyatt Logan, Helen Miller, Mollie Miner, Summer Olshefski, Abigail Rainwater, Cooper Rainwater, Parker Rainwater,  Cole Walker, and Alexis Wong.

The production team includes: Peter Reynolds (Director), Sam Hay (Choreographer),James Woodland (Musical Director), Ryan J. Zirngibl (Resident Scenic Designer), Jon Reed (Lighting Designer), Molly Akin (Costume Designer), Ryan Matthew Hall (Resident Sound Designer), Tony Dearing (Production Stage Manager), and Ivan Dario Cano(Assistant Stage Manager).

1776 (July 4 – July 66) stars Harry Bouvy as John Adams, Michael Padgett as Thomas Jefferson, Rob Langeder as Richard Henry Lee, Hannah Jane McMurray as Abigail Adams, and Lyceum favorites Andrew Foote as Edward Rutledge, Michael McKenzie as John Dickinson, Jeffrey C. Wolf as John Hancock, Don Richard as Stephen Hopkins,Dakota Mackey-McGee as Martha Jefferson, and Whit Reichert as Benjamin Franklin.1776 is the Tony Award winning musical that vividly brings the seminal event in American history to life. With quick-witted dialogue and a playful score, 1776 dramatizes the struggle in Philadelphia’s Second Continental Congress to declare independence and showcases the principles, pride and determination that influenced the birth of our nation.

New to Lyceum audiences, Harry Bouvy plays our most “obnoxious and disliked” founding father, John Adams. Bouvy’s credits include Caucasian Chalk Circle (Yale Rep), Angels in America (Syracuse Stage), Carmen Ghia and Leo Bloom in the national tour of The Producers (Helen Hayes nomination), I Am My Own Wife (Hangar Theatre), Fully Committed(Hartford TheatreWorks), Sir Robin in the Vegas company of Spamalot and, for a year and a half, he played Hannibal Lecter and Dr. Chilton in the off-Broadway smash, Silence! The Musical, and can be heard on the original cast recording. Making his debut at the Lyceum as Thomas Jefferson, Michael Padgett’s credits include the title role in Jekyll & Hyde(Broadway Theatre of Pitman), Show Boat (Media Theatre), Music of the Night (North Shore Musical Theatre), Romeo & Juliet (Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival), and El Gallo in The Fantasticks (Great Lakes Theatre). Making his Lyceum Debut as Richard Henry Lee, Rob Langeder has appeared in the national tour of Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story and the Japanese tour of Cinderella as well as appearing regionally at the Ordway, Drury Lane, and Barn Theatres. New to the Lyceum, Hannah Jane McMurray plays Abigail Adams. Her credits include the National Tour of Peter Pan 360, Love’s Labour’s Lost (Boomerang Theatre Co.), Death for Five Voices, The Hidden Sky (Prospect Theater Co.), My Way…(Smithtown PAC), The Miser (Piper Theater), and Les Misérables (Weston Playhouse).Andrew Foote is returning to the Lyceum after playing Jean Valjean in last season’s Les Misérables. Foote’s national tours include Les Misérables, Ragtime, and Annie. Other credits include Evita (Che) and Ragtime (Tateh) at the ZACH theatre, Les Misérables (Jean Valjean and others), at The Palace Theatre, Fireside Theatre, Houston’s Theatre Under the Stars, Riverside Theatre, and Weathervane Theatre. Playing Martha Jefferson, Dakota Mackey-McGee returns to the Lyceum having most recently appeared as Belle/Anne in A Christmas Carol. Other credits include Theatre Raleigh, Shakespeare Festival St. Louis, Theatreworks USA, and the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis. Returning for his sixth season, Whit Reicherthas been seen at the Lyceum as Pap in Hank Williams: Lost Highway, J. B. Biggley in How to Succeed…, George Macmillan in Big, The Musical, Osgood Feilding in Sugar, Max in The Sound Of Music, Grandpa in Meet me In St. Louis and Al Lewis in The Sunshine Boys. A St. Louis favorite, Riechert has been seen at The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, The Shakespeare Festival, Stages, The Muny, St. Louis Actors’ Theatre, The Black Rep and The Variety Club Theatre. Regionally, he has performed at Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Casa Manana, Kansas City Starlight, Riverside Theatre, Grand Opera House, The Fireside Theatre, Great Plains Theatre Festival, and Great Lakes Festival Theatre. Rounding out this ensemble cast are Jim Anthony (Charles Thomson), Bill Baer (Caesar Rodney), Todd Berkich (Robert Livingston), Vince Lutterbie (Dr. Josiah Bartlett), Bob Bohon (Samuel Chase), Michael Brennan (Joseph Hewes), Ed Hanson (Rev. John Witherspoon), Harold Hynick (Andrew McNair), Arthur Lazalde (Col. Thomas McKean), Nollie Moore (Roger Sherman), Elliot Peterson (James Wilson), Jacob Scott (Courier), Randy Shannon(Lewis Morris), Joseph Tudor (George Read), Cole Walker (Leather Apron), and Jeffrey Zicker (Dr. Lyman Hall).

The production team includes: Lyceum Producing Artistic Director, Quin Gresham (Director), Paula Danner (Choreographer), James Woodland (Musical Director), Ryan J. Zirngibl (Resident Scenic Designer), Matthew Wilson (Lighting Designer), Megan Harshaw (Costume Designer), Ryan Matthew Hall (Resident Sound Designer), Tony Dearing (Production Stage Manager), and Ivan Dario Cano (Assistant Stage Manager).

Single Tickets for the 2016 Season are priced at $36.00 for adults. Senior, student and children discounts are available. Special Group Rates are available as well. Evening performances are at 8pm and matinees are at 2pm. For tickets: www.lyceumtheatere.org, (660) 837-3311 x1, or in person at the Lyceum’s box office at 114 High Street, Arrow Rock, MO 65320.

The Arrow Rock Lyceum Theatre is a non-profit 501(c)(3), professional theatre located in the unique village of Arrow Rock, Missouri, a 19th century National Historic Landmark. The Lyceum has been entertaining audiences in the heart of Missouri for over 50 years producing a variety of musicals, dramas and comedies. Each year, this 408 seat theatre attracts professional talent from across the country to produce an eight show season (June-December). Performers, designers, directors, and technicians take residence in Arrow Rock for seven months to bring its patrons Broadway caliber productions throughout the summer.

The Lyceum Theatre is affiliated with Actors’ Equity Association, the Union for Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States working under an LOA to LORT (D) contract, and the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers.