Popular star of television and the Broadway stage, Marilu Henner, will make her return to Broadway in Gettin’ The Band Back Together, Henner has been cast as “Mitch’s Mom,” aka Sharon Papadopolous in the production which is directed by Tony Award winner John Rando and choreographed by Chris Bailey. She joins the previously announced company: Mitchell Jarvis (Mitch Papadopolous); Jay Klaitz (Bart Vickers), Paul Whitty (Michael “Sully” Sullivan), Sawyer Nunes (Ricky “Bling” Goldstein), Brandon Williams (Tygen Billows) and Tamika Lawrence (Roxanne Velasco).
Audiences will remember Marilu Henner from her appearance on two hit sitcoms, Taxi and Evening Shade. No stranger to the Broadway stage, she has appeared in Charles Busch’s The Tale of the Allergist Wife, Chicago, Neil Simon’s Social Security, Pal Joey, Over Here!, and Grease. She said, “I’m so glad to be coming back to my roots. I love the character so much as well as the cast and production team. It will be a blast.”
Gettin’ The Band Back Together will begin previews at Broadway’s Belasco Theatre on July 19,2018, with an official opening set for August 13. The musical features music and lyrics by Mark Allen and a book by Ken Davenport and The Grundleshotz, with additional material by Sarah Saltzberg. The creative team includes Tony Award winners Derek McLane (Scenic Design), Emily Rebholz (Costume), Ken Billington (Lighting Design) and John Shivers (Sound Design).
The new musical is described as follows: “Mitch Papadopolous always dreamed about being the next Bon Jovi, but he chose security over stardom and left those daydreams behind for a day job. For a while he thought he had everything – the high paying job, the high-rise apartment – until his 40th birthday when he got handed a pink slip and had to move back in with his mom in Sayreville, New Jersey. When his high school arch nemesis threatens to foreclose on their house, this big-shot banker must save his small-town home the only way he can… by winning The Battle of the Bands.”
Additional casting for the production is forthcoming.
Mark Robinson is the author of the two-volume encyclopedia The World of Musicals and maintains a theater and entertainment blog at markrobinsonwrites.com.