Allen, Bienskie, Jennings, et al. Set for Goodspeed’s High Button Shoes

The upcoming Goodspeed Musicals production of the Jule Styne-Sammy Cahn-Stephen Longstreet musical High Button Shoes will feature Stephen Bienskie as Harrison Floy, Ken Jennings as Pontdue, Brian Hissong as Oggle, Jennifer Allen as Mama, William Parry as Papa, Emmet Rahn-Oakes as Stevie, and Russell Arden Koplin as Fran. The show will play at the Goodspeed Opera House in East Haddam, Connecticut from July 13 through September 22 and will open officially on August 8.

High Button Shoes takes the audience back to the Model “T” era with a story that involves bathing beauties, fraternity brothers, Keystone Kops chasing madcap robbers, and even a dancing gorilla. The score features such songs as “Papa, Won’t You Dance With Me,” “I Still Get Jealous,” and “You’re My Girl.”

The cast of the Goodspeed production also includes Tommy Berklund, Keith Coughlin, Eric Giancola, Susan Grady, Sara Hart, David Hull, Cheryl McMahon, Hallie Metcalf, Mahri Relin, Dorothy Stanley, Drew Taylor, and swings Chet Crocco, Colby Q. Linderman, and Dani Speiler. Directed by Greg Ganakas, the show will feature choreography by Linda Goodrich, musical direction by Michael O’Flaherty, orchestrations by Dan DeLange, set design by Howard C. Jones, lighting design by Kirk Bookman, and costume design by Gregory Gale.

Bienskie has performed on Broadway in Chess and Cats, and in numerous Off-Broadway and regional productions including The Last Session, tick, tick…BOOM!, and the U.S. premiere of The Fix. Jennings won a Drama Desk Award and a Theatre World Award for his performance as Tobias in the original Broadway production of Sweeney Todd; his other Broadway credits include Urinetown and Side-Show. Hissong played Gideon in the Goodspeed Musicals production of Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.

Allen has appeared on Broadway in revivals of Little Me and Guys and Dolls. Parry’s Broadway credits include Sunday in the Park With George, Passion, and the 2003 revival of Gypsy. Rahn-Oakes recently played the role of Imhotep in Being Born at Theatre Three and General Genghis Kahn Schmitz in Seussical. Koplin’s Broadway credits include James Joyce’s The Dead and the original production of Les Misérables.