Dallas Theater Center presents Giant at the Dee and Charles Wyly Theatre at the AT&T Performing Arts Center Jan. 18 – Feb. 19. Tony Award-nominated Michael Greif will direct this new musical by Sybille Pearson and Michael John LaChiusa.
“Edna Ferber’s niece came to me several years ago about writing the musical version of Giant,” says composer and lyricist Michael John LaChiusa. “It wasn’t until I was commissioned to write something for the Signature Theatre in Arlington, Virginia that I moved forward with the project. Now we have this beautiful love story with a universitality and a truth that I hope will capture the imaginations of audiences in Texas and all over the country.”
Aaron Lazar will star as Bick. Lazar has appeared in seven Broadway productions and was recently seen in the revival of Stephen Sondheim’s A Little Night Music. He was nominated for a Drama Desk Award for his role in the revival of Les Misérables and can now be seen in Clint Eastwood’s film J. Edgar. Tony Award nominee Kate Baldwin (Finian's Rainbow) will play Leslie. Baldwin has performed at theaters across the country and has appeared on Broadway in several productions including The Full Monty. The role of Jett will be played by P.J. Griffith who recently starred in the original Broadway production of American Idiot.
Additional members of the cast include: Enrique Acevado as Miguel; Raul Aranas as Polo; Mary Bacon as Adarene and Mrs. Lyntonn; Miguel Cervantes as Angel, Jr. and Angel, Sr.; Natalie Cortez as Juana; Rocio Del Mar Valles as Analita; John Dossett as Bawley; Matt Doyle as Jordy, Jr.; Andrea Green as Lil Luz; Michael Halling as Lord Kafrey; Jason Hite as Bobby, Jr.; Dee Hoty as Luz; Doreen Montalvo as Lupe; Allison Rogers as Heidi; Isabel Santiago as Mrs. Obregon; Martin Sola as Dimodeo; Matthew Stocke as Mike; Katie Thompson as Vashti and William Youmans as Pinkie.
“We have assembled an extraordinarily talented cast for this new production in Dallas,” says director Michael Greif. “And the excitement that we all feel for sharing this great Texas story with Texas audiences is palpable.”
Giant is an epic love story set in the Lone Star State that spans generations. Bick Benedict is the heir apparent to the largest ranch in Texas, Reata. When he falls in love with a Virginia girl, Leslie, and brings her home, complications ensue as Leslie learns to cope with a new land and culture, and Bick tries to cope with a changing country and changing times. Jett Rink, represents a new age in Texas – oil. The struggles between the cattle ranger’s way of life and the drilling for oil, hostilities between whites and Mexicans, exploitation of the land and the desire to preserve it, the challenge of adapting to a changing world versus clinging to traditional values---Bick, Leslie, their children, and all those they know and encounter must face these challenges.
