The Weekend Report: Whisper House Casting; BroadwayCon Updates

Welcome to TheaterMania's Weekend Report, where you'll find recent news stories from the New York theater scene and beyond.

Meet the Cast of Whisper House by Duncan Sheik and Kyle Jarrow

Samantha Mathis (Billions) and Wyatt Cirbus will star in the New York premiere of Duncan Sheik and Kyle Jarrow's musical Whisper House, produced by the Civilians and running March 12-April 19 at 59E59. Steve Cosson directs, with msuical direction by Wiley Deweese.

Cirbus will play Christopher, a young man sent to live with his aunt Lily (Mathis) after losing his parents. They will be joined by James Yaegashi (Marvel's Runaways) as Yasuhiro, Jeb Brown (Beautiful) as the Sheriff, Molly Hager (Waitress) as the Female Ghost, and Van Hughes (Almost Famous) as the Male Ghost.

The design team includes Alexander Dodge (set), Jeff Croiter (lighting design), Linda Cho (costume design), Ken Travis (sound design), Danny Stafford (props design), Mark Holthusen (video), and Jeremy Chernick (special effects). Ryan Bourque is the Fight Choreographer.

BroadwayCon Updates

This weekend marks the 2020 edition of BroadwayCon. Here are some events during the festival that you shouldn't miss out on:

TheaterMania senior features reporter and Outer Critics Circle president David Gordon will moderate a Q&A with The Lightning Thief composer Rob Rokicki on Saturday, January 25, at noon.

Kate Rockwell, Telly Leung, Larry Owens, Lesli Margherita, and Brian Stokes Mitchell are among the artists who will sign their new albums at the Broadway Records table throughout the weekend.

Harry Townsend's Last Stand star Len Cariou will take part in a conversation on the MainStage, occurring at 5:30pm on January 25.

Watch Solea Pfeiffer and Emmy Raver-Lampman sing "Freedom" from Arena Stage's Gun & Powder :

Extensions, Casting, and Other Announcements

• Harry Townsend's Last Stand, starring Len Cariou and Craig Bierko, has extended at New York City Center Stage II through April 5,

• The 2020 edition of the Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS benefit Broadway Backwards will take place March 16 at the New Amsterdam Theatre.

• The Brooklyn Academy of Music run of Simon Stone's Medea, starring Rose Byrne and Bobby Cannavale, has extended through March 8.

• Cornelius Smith Jr. will play Frederick Douglass in the world-premiere of American Prophet: Frederick Douglass in His Own Words, written by Marcus Hummon and Charles Randolph-Wright, running July 10-August 16 at Arena Stage.

• Shanaé Burch, Ken Cheeseman, Cheryl McMahon, and Robert Najarian will star in Max Posner's The Treasurer at Boston's Lyric Stage Company, directed by Rebecca Bradshaw and running February 21-March 22.

• Dalia Davi, Cindy De La Cruz, Mateo Ferro, Andy Lucien, and Ed Ventura will star in Ren Dara Santiago's The Siblings Play, running at Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, March 4-April 5.

• Andrew Garman, Layla Khoshnoudi, and Chinaza Uche round out the cast of Ethan Lipton's Tumacho, directed by Leigh Silverman and running at the Connolly Theatre, February 17-March 14.

• Silvia Bond, Helen Coxe, Dan Domingues, Jeffrey Kringer, Tom Patterson, and Jean Tafler will star in Nancy Harrow and Will Pomerantz's About Love, running at the Sheen Center, February 25-March 22.

• Songwriters Richard Maltby Jr. and David Shire will be honored with the Bob Harrington Lifetime Achievement Award at the 35th annual Bistro Awards.

• Gabby Beans, Ari Graynor, Howard W. Overshown, Constance Shulman, and Frank Wood will star in Emily Feldman's The Best We Could (A Family Tragedy), running under the direction of Daniel Aukin beginning May 5 at Manhattan Theatre Club's New York City Center Stage II.

•Anna Moench's Man of God, beginning previews March 3 at the Geffen Playhouse, will star Shirley Chen, Camryn Kim, Natasha Liu, Albert Park, and Jenapher Zheng. Maggie Burrows directs.

Ryan Cupello, Mia Vallet, and Mark Lobene will star in Emil Varda's The Sickness, running February 7-29 at Access Theatre.

• New York Stage & Film's winter 2020 season will include new plays by Ryan Spahn, Chisa Hutchinson, and Leslie Ayvazian, with a complete list to be found here.

Hot Shots

See what you missed around town this week: