Sonnet Repertory Theatre (SRT) announces plans for a late-August workshop production of ONE, an original rock musical based both on the iconic novel Siddhartha and the uniquely personal story of its author, Herman Hesse. Originally produced in 2005 by Portland 's Insight Out Theatre Collective, ONE employs eastern and western musical influences, exploring the timeless quest for human understanding, the lines that separate fact and fiction, and the singular responsibility an artist holds in service of their art.
The cast features Michael Winther as Herman Hesse (Broadway's 33 Variations, Mamma Mia!, 2002 revival of The Crucible, 1997 revival of 1776, 1994 revival of Damn Yankees, and Artist Descending a Staircase; off-Broadway's Songs From an Unmade Bed, Radiant Baby, Pretty Faces, Hapgood, Berlin to Broadway with Kurt Weil, The Predator's Ball, Forever Plaid, and co-creator of Tony ‘N' Tina's Wedding), Manu Narayan as Siddhartha (Drama League-nominated for Broadway's Bombay Dreams; off-Broadway's suburbia, SIDD: The Musical, as well as the film The Love Guru, with Mike Meyers), SYDNEY James Harcourt (Broadway's The Lion King; television's American Idol Season 5, Hi-5, Disney's Enchanted, and MTV's Making the Band), Howard Kaye (Broadway's Miss Saigon, Broadway revivals of Fiddler On The Roof and Man Of La Mancha, National Tour of Mama Mia, and Peter Pan with Sandy Duncan), Pearl Sun (Broadway's Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, LCT's Happiness, and off-Broadway's Walmartopia, and R.A.W.), and Paolo Montalban (Broadway's 2004 revival of Pacific Overtures, 1996 revival of The King & I; off-Broadway's Two Gentlemen of Verona, and the film Cinderella with Whitney Houston and Bernadette Peters). Additional cast members include: Dana Musgrove (off-Broadway's Brunch the Musical and Unsung), LAIONA MICHELLE (off-Broadway's Lo She Comes), and JULIANNA JAFFE (Portland Center Stage).
Music and lyrics for ONE are by Wade McCollum, a composer and performer who has worked nationally with the Utah Shakespeare Festival, Celebration Theatre, and Portland Center Stage, and is known for his award-winning performance in the L.A. production of Hedwig and the Angry Inch. McCollum is a graduate of the Pacific Conservatory for the Performing Arts, and his first solo album, "Beauty is a Streetlight," was produced independently in the legendary Kung Fu Bakery.
ONE's book is by KRISTIN STEELE, a Portland-based writer who teaches playwriting to at-risk youth, and leads creative writing workshops for adults in domestic violence shelters, public housing projects, and community spaces. A graduate of Portland State University and Goddard College , Steele's stage work has been produced in Los Angeles , and her fiction and non-fiction works have appeared in magazines, newspapers, and literary anthologies.
Music Director for ONE is Karl Mansfield, a recent participant in the BMI Music Theater Writers' Workshop who's Broadway work as a conductor and keyboardist includes Xanadu, La Boheme, 13, Dracula, Coram Boy, and Sweet Charity. Off-Broadway includes Grey Gardens, Altar Boyz, and regionally at the La Jolla Playhouse, The Old Globe, Portland Center Stage, Denver Center, and Golden Gate Theater. Additionally, Mansfield 's original music and sound design have been heard at Oregon and California Shakespeare Festivals, Yale Rep, The 52nd Street Project, and The Haven Project.
Todd Loyd, SRT's current Co-Artistic Director (along with Tiffany Little-Canfield), will direct the production. Loyd has worked on and off Broadway, including the Broadway productions of La Boheme and The Color Purple, and at The Kennedy Center, The Eugene O'Neill Playwright's Conference, Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet Company, NYMF and NAMT, among others.
The choreography is by Jolly Abraham (previous Broadway performances in Coram Boy and Bombay Dreams), and Jessica Hinkle, Noah Jordan, Hwi-Won Lee, Lex Liang, Jeremiah Maestas, Zach Redler, Stephanie Raines, Jonathan Ross, John Schnatterly, Tomoki Spilsbury, and Justin Stasiw round out the production team.
SRT, a non-profit company dedicated to classic theatre for the modern planet, is now in its seventh consecutive season.
