A WORLD PREMIERE MUSICAL BY JANECE SHAFFER WITH ORIGINAL MUSIC BY SUGARLAND’S KRISTIAN BUSH
ANNOUNCING THE CAST – ANDREW BENATOR, SLYVIE DAVIDSON, RADNEY FOSTER, ROB LAWHON, BETHANY ANNE LIND, AND ZACH SEABAUGH
TROUBADOUR OPENS AT THE ALLIANCE THEATRE IN ATLANTA,
JANUARY 18 – FEBRUARY 12, 2017
NASHVILLE, November 18, 2017 -Legendary singer/songwriter Radney Foster has been cast in Atlanta’s Tony Award® winning Alliance Theatre upcoming world premiere musical, Troubadour, by playwright Janece Shaffer (The Geller Girls, Broke) with original music by Grammy Award-winning recording artist Kristian Bush.
Set in 1950s Nashville, Troubadour is a romantic comedy about an unlikely group of friends whose unconventional style changes the course of country music. Radney Foster plays Billy Mason, a 1940’s Country icon on the eve of retirement. His soft-spoken son, Joe (The Voice finalist singer-songwriter Zach Seabaugh) is attempting to break out of his father’s shadow. When he joins forces with an unlikely pair — Inez, a budding singer-songwriter (actor and singer-songwriter Sylvie Davidson) and Izzy, a rodeo tailor on a mission (actor Andrew Benator Disgraced, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest) –a revolution is born and Country music is changed forever.
Troubadour is directed by the Alliance’s Jennings Hertz Artistic Director Susan V. Booth (One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, The Geller Girl) and runs on the Alliance Stage from January 18 – February 12, 2017.
The cast also includes Atlanta-based actor and singer-songwriter Rob Lawhon (Songs to Grow On, Ghost Brothers of Darkland County); Atlanta-based actor Bethany Anne Lind (One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Edward Foote). The creative team for Troubadour includes Music Director Brandon Bush, Sound Designer Clay Benning, Costume Designer Lex Liang, Tony Award-winning Set Designer Todd Rosenthal, and Lighting Designer Ken Yunker.
Troubadour includes original music by singer-songwriter Kristian Bush, known for his chart topping songs as one half of the Country duo Sugarland, as well as his work with duo Billy Pilgram and 2015’s critically-acclaimed Southern Gravity.
“Janece created characters who seemed so real to me that it was easy to get inside their heads and write their stories into songs, even as I travelled 60 years back in time to find their authentic sound,” said Bush. “Now that we have this amazing cast to bring the story and the songs to life, I can’t wait to see what this becomes.”
“I’m thrilled to be able to bring this character to life, and to work with a cast and creative team of this caliber,” says Foster. “When I first heard Kristian’s songs, I knew this would be something special.”
Performances of Troubadour are Tuesday through Thursday at 7:30 p.m., Fridays at 8:00 p.m., Saturdays at 2:30 and 8:00 p.m., and Sundays at 2:30 and 7:30 p.m., January 18 – February 12, 2017. Opening Night is January 25, 2017. There will be no 2:30 p.m. performance on Saturday, January 21.
Two special matinee performances for students will take place on Thursday, February 2, and Thursday, February 9, at 10:30 a.m. For ticket information, contact allianceschoolday@woodruffcenter.org or call 404.733.4661.
Tickets start at $20 and are available at the Woodruff Arts Center Box Office in person or by calling 404-733-5000. Tickets are also available online at www.alliancetheatre.org/troubadour. The Alliance Theatre is located at the Woodruff Arts Center, 1280 Peachtree Street, NE, Atlanta, GA 30309, at the corner of Peachtree and 15th Street, in Midtown.
About Radney Foster
Radney Foster first gained attention as half of the duo Foster & Lloyd (who, with “Crazy Over You” became the first duo in history to top the Country charts with their debut single), and as a solo artist has had success with hits like “Nobody Wins,” “Just Call Me Lonesome” and Texas In 1880.”
He has shared the stage with Roy Orbison, Carl Perkins, George Jones, Merle Haggard, Dolly Parton, written songs for Keith Urban, Guy Clark, Kenny Chesney, The Dixie Chicks, Luke Bryan and many others. Foster’s acting credits include Zachariah in the upcoming feature film, Beauty Mark.
He is currently at work on a new record, along with a companion volume of short stories which will be released in Fall 2017.
For more information, please visit http://radneyfoster.com/.
On Tour:
Nov. 18 – Barking Legs – Chattanooga, TN
Nov. 19 – The Strand at 38 Main – Waynesville, NC
Nov. 20 – Eddie’s Attic – Decatur, GA
Dec. 1 – The Mucky Duck, Houston, TX
Dec. 2 – Main Street Crossing, Tomball, TX
Dec. 3 – The Mucky Duck, Houston, TX
Dec. 9 – The Beachland Ballroom, Cleveland, OH
Dec. 10 – The Sportman’s Tavern, Buffalo, NY
Jan. 14 – Grand Theatre, Lewisville, TX
Jan. 18-Feb 12 – Troubadour, The Alliance Theatre, Atlanta, GA
About the Alliance Theatre
The Alliance Theatre is Atlanta’s national theater, expanding hearts and minds on stage and off. Founded in 1968, the Alliance Theatre is the leading producing theater in the Southeast, reaching more than 165,000 patrons annually. The Alliance delivers powerful programming that challenges adult and youth audiences to think critically and care deeply. Under the leadership of Susan V. Booth, Jennings Hertz Artistic Director, the Alliance Theatre received the Regional Theatre Tony Award ® in recognition of sustained excellence in programming, education, and community engagement.
Known for its high artistic standards and national role in creating significant theatrical works, the Alliance has premiered more than 100 original productions including Tony Award® winners The Color Purple, by Alice Walker, Aida, by Elton John and Tim Rice, and Alfred Uhry’s The Last Night of Ballyhoo. The Alliance has developed and premiered important American musicals with a strong track record of Broadway, touring, and subsequent productions, including the world premieres of Sister Act: The Musical, Twyla Tharp’s Come Fly Away, Bring It On: The Musical, Stephen King and John Mellencamp’s Ghost Brothers of Darkland County, Harmony – A New Musical by Barry Manilow and Bruce Sussman, and most recently the world premiere of the new musical Tuck Everlasting. The Alliance also creates and nurtures the careers of artists through the Alliance/Kendeda National Graduate Playwriting Competition, producing the world premiere for the competition winner as part of the regular season, and the Reiser Atlanta Artists Lab, providing developmental support and production resources for three performing arts projects each year.
The Alliance’s dedication to providing access to the arts is reflected in its commitment to creating new work for all ages, and to bringing that work into classrooms and communities across Atlanta and throughout the region. More than 50,000 students each year experience age-specific professional performances and participate in acting classes, drama camps, and in-school initiatives through the Alliance Theatre Acting Program and Education Department. The Alliance’s groundbreaking Kathy and Ken Bernhardt Theatre for the Very Young performances offer professionally-produced, fully interactive theater for infants and toddlers; the Palefsky Collision Project invites high school artists to create and perform new civic-minded theater based on a classic text; and community acting classes and skill-building workshops engage professional artists, young actors, business leaders, and curious learners of all ages. Twice recognized by the U.S. Department of Education for leadership in arts education, the
Alliance Arts for Learning Institute equips classroom teachers with theatrical techniques that link directly to school curriculum and have been empirically proven to improve student learning. These programs include Georgia Wolf Trap Early Learning Through the Arts and Dramaturgy K-12, in which students create research material that informs Alliance productions and prepares peer audiences.
The work produced by the Alliance allows locally based artists the chance to create on a nationally watched stage, building and sustaining Atlanta’s artistic community. The vision of the Alliance Theatre is to be a beacon of leadership for the national field, while remaining deeply rooted in and reflective of our local Atlanta community.
GROUP/MILITARY/STUDENT DISCOUNTS
See all discounts and special offers here –
http://alliancetheatre.org/content/ticket-discounts
Troubadour is part of the Coca-Cola Series on the Alliance Stage and is supported by The Home Depot Foundation, Delta Air Lines, Inc., and PNC. Generous support for Troubadour is provided by Dean DuBose & Bronson Smith.
Troubadour is a recipient of an Edgerton Foundation New Play Award.
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