Grand Hotel original cast members Karen Akers, Keith Crowningshield, David Jackson, Ken Jennings, Timothy Jerome, Charles Mandracchia, Penny Worth and Walter Willison are reuniting on November 11 for a special pair of concerts toasting the 1989 musical's 30th anniversary. They will be joined by John Schneider, who played the Baron Felix Von Gaigern in the original Broadway production, Tony Award winner Judy Kaye and more.
Willison has written and directed the concerts, which are dedicated to the memory of the late Liliane Montevecchi, who received a Tony nomination for originating the role of ballerina Elizaveta Grushinskaya.
Also featured are Grand Hotel cast members Michael Piehl, David White, Jill Powell, Sachi Parker, Harper Lee Andrews (daughter of original cast member Jennifer Lee Andrews), Emily Elizabeth Cobb, Katie Dixon, Matthew Drinkwater, John Drinkwater, Daniel Dunlow and ballroom dancers Erin Marie and Zachary Bordonaro.
Directed and choreographed by Tommy Tune, Grand Hotel opened at the Martin Beck Theatre on November 12, 1989 and ran for 1,017 performances. It was nominated for twelve 1990 Tony Awards and won five—two for Tune in categories of Best Direction of a Musical and Best Choreography, two for designers Santo Loquasto (costumes) and Jules Fisher (lights) and one for the late Michael Jeter, who played Otto Kringelein, the dying bookkeeper.
The Grand Hotel celebration will take place at 7:00pm and 9:30pm in The Yellow Pavillion in The Fig Room on the fourth floor of YOTEL New York at 570 Tenth Avenue. For tickets and more info, click here.