Gotta Dream, Gotta Song! Muny Announces Complete Cast, Design and Production Team for Lerner and Loewe’s Paint Your Wagon

The Muny announced today its complete cast, design and production team for Lerner and Loewe’s Paint Your Wagon, the sixth show of its second century, July 27 – August 2. Lerner and Loewe’s Paint Your Wagon is proudly sponsored by Ameren.

"Lerner and Loewe are icons of the American Musical Theatre, and we are honored to be a part the development of this new version of this wonderful show," said Muny Artistic Director and Executive Producer Mike Isaacson. "The extraordinary cast and creative team has been working for months to get the new edition re-written, re-orchestrated and redesigned for this marvelous production. We're on our way!"

Joining the previously announced Matt Bogart (Ben Rumson), Mamie Parris (Cayla Woodling), Omar Lopez-Cepero (Armando) and Mark Evans (William) are Maya Keleher (Jennifer Rumson), Allan K. Washington (Wesley), Andrew Kober (Jake), Austin Ku (Ming-Li), Raymond J. Lee (Guang-Li), Rodney Hicks (H. Ford) and Michael James Reed (Craig Woodling).

A golden ensemble completes this cast, including Akilah Ayanna, Juan Caballer, Matthew Davies, Richard Gatta, Sally Glaze, Michael Milkanin, Trina Mills, Pascal Pastrana, Michael Seltzer and Cooper Stanton. The company will also be joined by the Muny Teen youth ensemble.

As previously announced, Lerner and Loewe’s Paint Your Wagon is directed and choreographed by Josh Rhodes with music direction by Sinai Tabak.

The production team leading Lerner and Loewe’s Paint Your Wagon includes scenic design by MICHAEL SCHWEIKARDT, costume design by AMY CLARK, lighting design by JOHN LASITER, sound design by JOHN SHIVERS and DAVID PATRIDGE, video design by CAITE HEVNER, wig design by LEAH J. LOUKAS. Production stage manager is BONNIE PANSON. Casting is by Telsey + Company.

MATT BOGART (Ben Rumson) Muny debut! Broadway: Jersey Boys, Aida, Miss Saigon, The Civil War, Smokey Joe’s Café (TV/DVD) and Camelot (tour). Off-Broadway: Himself and Nora. TV: HBO’s Vinyl, Smash, Law & Order (SVU and original). Recent: world premieres of Jane Eyre (Cleveland Musical Theatre), Snow Child (Arena Stage), Most Beautiful Room (Long Wharf), Ace (Repertory Theatre of St. Louis), Carousel (Wichita Symphony). Other favorite credits include La Jolla Playhouse, Old Globe, Goodspeed, Cincinnati Playhouse and solo engagements at Lincoln Center, Kennedy Center and Carnegie Hall. Mr. Bogart is a member of Actors’ Equity Association (AEA), an Affiliated Artist of Arena Stage in D.C., playwright, theatre and record producer with solo recordings. www.MattBogart.com

MAMIE PARRIS (Cayla Woodling) is thrilled to return to the Muny! Muny: Joseph… Dreamcoat (Narrator), Hello, Dolly! (Irene Molloy). Broadway/national tour: Cats (Grizabella), School of Rock (Rosalie, Patty [original]), Wicked (Elphaba), 9 to 5: The Musical (Judy Bernly), Ragtime (revival), The Drowsy Chaperone, Legally Blonde, Roundabout Theatre’s revivals of On The 20th Century (Agnes) and 110 in the Shade. Off-Broadway: Pump Boys and Dinettes (Prudie), See Rock City & Other Destinations (Dodi). Other notable credits include the acclaimed new musical Life After (Beth, Old Globe) and Dave (Ellen, world premiere, Arena Stage), as well as roles at Goodspeed Musicals and Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera. Film/TV: The Blacklist, A Stand Up Guy and State of Affairs. Mamieparris.com, Twitter: @mamieparris, Instagram: @mamierocks

OMAR LOPEZ-CEPERO (Armando) is honored to return to The Muny after appearing in The Unsinkable Molly Brown two years ago. He joins directly from the world premiere of the new musical The Flamingo Kid (Alejandro) at Hartford Stage. Prior, he played Perón opposite his wife in a re-imagined version of Evita at Bay Street. Broadway/NY: On Your Feet! (Warren and Emilio, Original Broadway Cast); American Idiot (Original Broadway Cast), The Capeman (Delacorte/Central Park). Regional: Guys and Dolls (Sky Masterson, TUTS), Les Misérables (Marius, Fulton), The Pirates of Penzance (Frederick, Marriott Theatre). TV: The Detour, Vegas, Blue Bloods, Late Night with David Letterman, America’s Got Talent, The Grammy Awards, The Tony Awards. Proud University of Miami graduate. @omarlopezcepero

MARK EVANS (William) Muny debut! Mark most recently starred in The Play That Goes Wrong on Broadway and co-directed the play for its off-Broadway remounting. Other off-Broadway credits include the NY City Center Encores! productions of I Married an Angel and Me and My Girl, as well as the Irish Repertory Theatre’s critically-acclaimed revival of Finian’s Rainbow. U.S. regional credits: Mary Poppins, The Fix, Aida, Singin’ in the Rain and the national tour of The Book of Mormon as Elder Price. West End/London credits: Ghost, Wicked, Oklahoma!; Spamalot, The Rocky Horror Show. Film: Tower of Silence, Lake Placid 3 and Dead Hungry.

MAYA KELEHER (Jennifer Rumson) is excited to be making her Muny debut! Previous credits include Natalie in Next to Normal at TheaterWorks Hartford and Young Jessica in the reading of Butterflies at Barrington Stage Company. Proud graduate of The Boston Conservatory. Website mayakeleher.com and Instagram @mayakeleher.

ALLAN K. WASHINGTON (Wesley) Muny debut! Broadway: SpongeBob SquarePants: The Broadway Musical (OBC), Once on This Island (2017 revival). Off-Broadway: A Man’s A Man (Classic Stage Company). Regional: The SpongeBob Musical (Nederlander Theatre), Wagner’s Der fliegende Holländer (Hawaii Opera Theatre), Verdi’s Aida (Glimmerglass Festival). Training: University of North Carolina School of the Arts (BFA Acting).

ANDREW KOBER (Jake) Muny debut! Broadway: School of Rock, Sunday in the Park with George, She Loves Me, Les Misérables and Hair (also West End). He toured nationally in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee and has appeared off-Broadway and regionally with Roundabout Theatre Company, The Public Theatre, MCC, NY Theatre Workshop, The Old Globe, Yale Rep, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Bucks County Playhouse, The Denver Center, Barrington Stage Company, and four summers at Shakespeare in the Park, most recently playing Malvolio in the 2018 production of Twelfth Night. TV: Ray Donovan, House of Cards, Boardwalk Empire, Blue Bloods, Pan Am and Fosse/Verdon. He can be heard on the cast recordings of Hair, Sunday in the Park…, She Loves Me, Twelfth Night and Alice By Heart. Twitter: @andrewkober

AUSTIN KU (Ming-Li) This St. Louis native makes his Muny debut! Originated the role of Bobby Bob in the world premiere of Soft Power, by Tony Award winners David Henry Hwang and Jeanine Tesori (coming next to NY). Other favorite credits: Chinglish (tour), Pacific Overtures (revival), Carnegie Hall and several award-winning regional roles. Austin has received StageSceneLA, Dean Goodman, and WISE Awards; Barrymore, Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle, BroadwayWorld, IRNE, and LA Ovation nominations. Film: Sleeping With Other People, Creative Control, and Chinese blockbuster Detective Chinatown 2. Television: Bull, Billions, Homeland, Shades of Blue, Sneaky Pete, The Affair, Younger. Education: Rice University, UC Berkeley, Boston Conservatory, Upright Citizens Brigade. Proud AEA member. www.Austin-Ku.com. @secretaustinman.

RAYMOND J. LEE (Guang-Li) is so excited to be returning to The Muny! When last here in Seussical, he found out he was going to be a father on a ten minute break. Ray was most recently in the world premiere of Soft Power by David Henry Hwang and Jeanine Tesori at Center Theatre Group. Broadway: Groundhog Day, Honeymoon in Vegas, Anything Goes, Mamma Mia!. NY: Camelot, Two Gentlemen of Verona, The Wild Party. Regional: Stuck Elevator, Tiger Style!; Nerds, Spelling Bee. TV/Film: Billions, Red Oaks, Succession, Fame, Smash and an upcoming Noah Baumbach film. Ray’s voice has been heard on projects for Netflix, Dreamworks, Disney Junior and Penguin Random House. Follow @raymondjlee and visit www.raymondjlee.com.

RODNEY HICKS (H. Ford) Muny debut! Original Broadway casts of Come From Away (Bob), The Scottsboro Boys (Clarence Norris), Jesus Christ Superstar (Peter in 2000 revival), Rent (Ensemble/Original cast, Benny/Closing cast/Live from Broadway DVD). A host of regional credits. Recently wrapped the independent film Mighty Oak. TV: Leverage, Grimm, Law and Order: Criminal Intent, Hope & Faith, NYPD Blue. Playwright: Flame Broiled. or the ugly play (Local Theater Company, upcoming 2019/2020 season), The Singer and Ms. Pearl, Just Press Save (Semi-Finalist 2018 Eugene O'Neill Playwriting Conference).

MICHAEL JAMES REED (Craig Woodling) is delighted to return to The Muny! Previous appearances include: Gypsy, The Music Man, The Buddy Holly Story, Tarzan, South Pacific and West Side Story. Repertory Theatre of St. Louis: A Doll’s House, Part 2; Oslo, Hamlet, A Christmas Carol. Shakespeare Festival St Louis: over 10 productions, including Love’s Labour’s Lost, Romeo and Juliet, The Winter’s Tale. New York: La Bête (Broadway), King Lear (Roundabout), Amphitryon (Classic Stage Co.) and A Forest in Arden (New York Theatre Workshop). Regional: Old Globe, Pasadena Playhouse, Alley Theatre, American Conservatory Theater, Paper Mill Playhouse, South Coast Rep. Selected TV: Numb3rs, 24, JAG, Six Feet Under, The Shield, The King of Queens, That ‘70s Show and Chicago PD. Graduate of the Guildhall School of Music & Drama in London.

Link for more information: muny.org/paint-your-wagon.

About the show:

Lerner and Loewe’s Paint Your Wagon features an original book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe with a new book by Jon Marans, dance and additional arrangements by Jason DeBord and orchestrations by August Eriksmoen.

Following our beloved productions of The Unsinkable Molly Brown and The Wiz, The Muny again serves as a birthplace to a reimagined version of an American musical classic. This Lerner and Loewe gem from 1951 is set in the California gold rush, sharing a moving tale of ambition, love and home. Featuring shimmering numbers such as “They Call the Wind Maria,” “I Talk to the Trees” and “Wand’rin’ Star,” this reimagined adaptation has a revised book by Jon Marans and is produced in association with On the Wagon Productions and Garmar Ventures.