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NEW YORK — Initial casting is coming together for Bullets Over Broadway, the stage musical adaptation of Woody Allen‘s 1994 comedy, with Zach Braff set to make his Broadway debut in the role played onscreen by John Cusack.
Directed and choreographed by five-time Tony winner Susan Stroman (The Producers), the new musical will begin preview performances March 11 at the St. James Theatre, with opening night set for April 10.
Braff will take on the role of aspiring playwright David Shayne, cornered into casting a mobster’s talentless girlfriend in order to get his latest drama produced, at the same time being pressured by theatrical grande dame Helen Sinclair to beef up her part.
STORY: Zach Braff on His $2 Million Kickstarter Project: ‘I Had Nothing to Lose’
Lenny Wolpe will play theater producer Julian Marx, with former The Sopranos castmember Vincent Pastore as Nick Valenti, the gangster to whom he turns for financing. Helene York will play Nick’s bimbo girlfriend, Olive, with Brooks Ashmanskas as the play’s high-maintenance leading man and Betsy Wolfe as David’s longtime girlfriend.
The key role of Helen Sinclair, which won an Oscar for Diane Wiest in the film version, has not yet been cast.
Adapted by Allen from the Oscar-nominated screenplay he co-wrote with Douglas McGrath, the musical features existing songs from the period. Producers on the show are Letty Aronson and Julian Schlossberg.
Braff previously appeared Off Broadway in Paul Weitz‘s play Trust at Second Stage Theatre, where his own play All New People also had its world premiere.
The actor has recently been in the news with his Kickstarter campaign to finance his second feature, Wish I Was Here, a follow-up to his 2004 directing debut Garden State. The project is set to star Kate Hudson, Jim Parsons, Mandy Patinkin and Josh Gad alongside Braff.
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