Vanessa Hudgens, Jelani Alladin, and Hailey Kilgore Set for The Notebook Reading

Vassar & New York Stage and Film have announced the next wave of casting for the upcoming 35th Powerhouse Season in Poughkeepsie, NY, which starts June 20 and runs through July 28. Actors joining the annual summer play development incubator include award-winning actor/singer Vanessa Hudgens, two-time Tony Award winner James Naughton, three-time Screen Actors Guild Award winner Constance Schulman, Tony and Grammy Award nominee Hailey Kilgore, Tony Award winner Adriane Lenox, Drama Desk Award nominee Jennifer Mudge, Drama Desk Award nominee Jelani Alladin, Outer Critics Circle nominee Noah Robbins, and more.

…and the horse you rode in on, the first ‘Inside Look' Workshop presentation of the 2019 Powerhouse Season (June 20-22), written by National Board of Review recipient Zach Helm (Stranger Than Fiction), with direction by Drama Desk Award nominee Kate Whoriskey (Sweat), will star Lucille Lortel Award nominee Victor Alamanzar (Between Riverside and Crazy), Joshua Boone (Network), Alejandro Hernandez (New Amsterdam), Tony Award winner Adriane Lenox (Doubt), Reynaldo Piniella (Sneaky Pete), Outer Critics Circle nominees Noah Robbins (Brighton Beach Memoirs), Cesar J. Rosado (Manifest), and three-time Screen Actors Guild Award winner Constance Schulman (Orange Is The New Black).

The Notebook, the first reading of the season (June 23 at 3pm), based on the novel by Nicholas Sparks, with music and lyrics by Ingrid Michaelson, book by Bekah Brunstetter, and directed by Michael Greif, will star Drama Desk Award nominee Jelani Alladin (Frozen), Nicholas Belton (Natasha, Pierre and The Great Comet of 1812), Candy Buckley (Cabaret), Antonio Cipriano (Jagged Little Pill), Drama Desk Award winner Janet Dacal (In the Heights), Mili Diaz (Wicked), Clifton Duncan (Carmen Jones), Vanessa Hudgens (Rent Live), Tony and Grammy Award nominee Hailey Kilgore (Once On This Island), Drama Desk Award nominee Jennifer Mudge (Rocky), two-time Tony Award winner James Naughton (Chicago), and Ben Jackson Walker.

Additions to the cast of the new musical Galileo, which will be presented as part of the annual summer readings festival (June 29 at 4pm), include be Gabriel Anthony Amoroso, Nick Choksi, Julian Emile Lerner, Charlotte McLeod, and Madeline Lane Spacapan, who are joining the previously announced cast comprised of four-time Tony Award nominee Raúl Esparza (Company), Michael Esper (Trust), Solea Pfeiffer (Hamilton), and Colton Ryan (Alice By Heart). Galileo features a book by two-time Emmy Award winner Danny Strong, music and lyrics by Michael Weiner and Zoe Sarnak, and direction by Tony Award winner Michael Mayer.

Additional casting of the 2019 Powerhouse Season will be announced shortly.