Stephen Hanna Returns to SILENCE! This Saturday

Beginning this Saturday, January 19th, Stephen Hanna will return to the role of Dream Hannibal in Off-Broadway's sellout sensation Silence! The Musical at the new Elektra Theatre in the heart of Times Square. Following the announcement that SILENCE! would be ending its long run December 30th, ticket sales unexpectedly soared, shattering all previous box office records for the show so far. As a result, the producers determined that performances of the smash hit show will resume on January 19th. Originally announced as a strictly limited engagement through August 13, 2011, SILENCE! was extended numerous times by popular demand and transferred theatres twice, ultimately landing at the new Elektra Theatre in the heart of Times Square, which was constructed especially for the show. SILENCE! opened at Theatre 80 on July 9, 2011 to unanimous rave reviews and spawned a highly successful L.A. production starring Davis Gaines and Christine Lakin.

Winner of the 2012 Off Broadway Alliance Award for Best Musical, Silence! The Musical is the unauthorized parody of The Silence of the Lambs, with book by Hunter Bell, music & lyrics by Jon and Al Kaplan, and direction & choreography by Tony Award winner Christopher Gattelli. The show was selected by Time Magazine as one of the Top 5 Musicals of 2011.

In the Academy Award-winning film The Silence of the Lambs, rookie FBI agent Clarice Starling matches wits with the brilliant but insane cannibal, Dr. Hannibal Lecter, to catch the serial killer known only as Buffalo Bill. Clarice faces her own demons while racing the clock to unlock Lecter's clues before another innocent girl is killed and skinned by Buffalo Bill. The laugh-out-loud raunchy satire, Silence! The Musical, features a singing chorus of floppy eared lambs narrating the action as Buffalo Bill gleefully dances a hoedown while kidnapping hapless Catherine Martin. Even Dr. Lecter, scary as ever, sings about the life he'd like to lead someday outside the prison walls.

Stephen Hanna played Older Billy in the original Broadway cast of Billy Elliot and he starred as Sid in the national tour of Come Fly Away. Stephen joined New York City Ballet in 1997, and in 2005 was promoted to the rank of principal dancer.

Starring Sean McDermott as Hannibal Lecter, the cast of Silence! The Musical also features David Ayers, Pamela Bob, Ashlee Dupré, Natalie Joy Johnson, Howard Kaye, Topher Nuccio, Ronica V. Reddick, Kimberly Stern, and Doug Trapp.

Created by Jon and Al Kaplan in 2002, Silence! The Musical began as a collection of songs on the internet which immediately attracted a staggering number of fans. The Kaplans' subsequent screenplay Silence! The Musical was adapted by Hunter Bell into a live stage show, which also featured newly composed songs by the brothers. Fueled by a rabid cult following, SILENCE! shattered every box office record at the 2005 FringeNYC Festival, winning the award for Best Musical. SILENCE! met with further success in London where it garnered ecstatic reviews at the Above The Stag Theatre.

More Articles by This Author...