San Francisco Expecting Stratford Alumni

Principle casting for the Canadian premiere of Ha'Penny Bridge (2008), announced yesterday, includes beloved Stratford alumni Kyle Blair (known to musical audiences as Will Parker, Noah Claypole, and Ambrose Kember); Keith Dinicol (who has, in 24 seasons, been in more than 60 productions); Susan Henley (just three seasons), and Mary Ann McDonald (last in The Sound of Music [2002]).

Musical director and choreographer Donna Feore, whose Stratford credits include Oliver! (2006) and Oklahoma! (2007), will be heading up this touring production.

Ha'Penny Bridge is the tale of "a love torn apart in a country divided". Molly Cassidy (Broadway's Anika Larsen) and the "handsome and quick-witted" George Aitkin (Kyle Blair, pictured above in guess what?) meet in 1922 Dublin, in the midst of the civil war. And he a Londoner. What chance has their love of surviving?

An Irish musical, Ha'Penny Bridge (2008) is characterised as "Broadway bound" by Playbill, though neither a tentative date or theatre has been issued - even tentatively.

Ha'Penny Bridge (2008) will run in Toronto at the Princess of Wales Theatre May 16 to June 29, 2008, before moving to San Francisco's Golden Gate Theatre on July 6, 2008.