Carson Kreitzer wrote the book and lyrics for "Lempicka," premiering this summer at Williamstown Theatre Festival. /Tom Wallace/Star Tribune
Williamstown Theatre Festival has announced a starry slate for 2018, including actors Matthew Broderick and Mary-Louise Parker and, behind the scenes, Twin Cities-based playwright Carson Kreitzer ("Lasso of Truth").
Broderick and Parker will each star in a new comedy at the festival, and Kreitzer's work will be featured in the world premiere musical, "Lempicka," based on the true story of wealthy Tamara de Lempicka, who fled the Russian Revolution and re-started her life in Paris as a painter. The show, premiering at the Massachusetts theater festival in July, will be directed by Rachel Chavkin, whose work on "Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812" earned a Tony nomination and who also directed the Guthrie's "The Royal Family" last year. Its star is Carmen Cusack, a Tony nominee two seasons ago for "Bright Star."
Kreitzer wrote the book and lyrics for "Lempicka," which she has described as "'Sunday in the Park With George' meets 'Evita.'" (Coincidentally, another musical about a painter, Edgar Degas, "Tiny Dancer," is also in development, with an eye toward Broadway.) The "Lempicka" music is by Matt Gould.
