Hollywood’s awards season is getting its own Christmas Carol, with Cate Blanchett as Scrooge and three Nicole Kidmans as the ghosts.
The Off-Broadway comedy A Kidman Carol has announced its complete cast ahead of a six-week engagement at New World Stages beginning November 16. Richard Perez and Phillip Taratula join previously announced performers Marla Mindelle, Josh Sharp and Ashby Florence, producer Benson Drive Productions said Monday.
In playwright Kevin Zak’s sendup of Dickens, Josh Sharp plays Blanchett on the eve of the Oscars. Marla Mindelle, whose credits include Titanique, plays three spectral versions of Kidman who take Blanchett through an Australian childhood, the vanity of present-day Hollywood and an ominous future. The apparent stakes include the fate of cinema itself.
Perez, a Brooklyn comedian and actor whom Vulture named among its comedians to watch in 2023, will play Jaff and other roles. Taratula, who appeared in Zak’s Ginger Twinsies, will portray Katharine Hepburn and others. Florence, a social-media performer making her New York stage debut, plays Therese and additional characters. Lizzy Brooks and Michael Khalid round out the company as swings, performers who cover multiple roles.
Skylar Fox directs the production, which is now in rehearsals. The creative team includes scenic designers dots, costume designer Wilberth Gonzalez, lighting designer Stacey Derosier and choreographer Jesse Robb. George Strus of Benson Drive Productions produces alongside Mickey Liddell and Pete Shilaimon of LD Entertainment.
The show follows a sold-out developmental engagement last year and opens officially on November 30. Its limited, 54-performance run ends December 30.
A Kidman Carol begins previews November 16 at New World Stages, 340 West 50th Street. Tickets are available through the production’s website and Telecharge.
Photo: Marla Mindelle and Josh Sharp in an earlier publicity portrait. Credit: Regular People.
