Actors Theatre of Indiana (ATI) will begin 2022 with the production of The Big Bang beginning Jan. 28 and running through Feb. 20. ATI shows are performed at the Studio Theater inside the Center for the Performing Arts in Carmel.
In the living room of an elegant Park Avenue apartment in New York City, Jed and Boyd, along with their pal Albert on the piano, stage a backers’ audition for an $83.5 million, 12-hour long musical depicting the history of the world from creation to the present.
Eighteen sidesplitting numbers portraying Adam and Eve, Attila the Hun, the building of the pyramids, Julius Caesar and Columbus, among others, give potential investors a taste of the impending extravaganza.
In the process, the opulent Park Avenue apartment “borrowed” for the occasion is trashed as the two snatch its furnishings to create makeshift costumes while singing and clowning their way through inventive recreations of the past. This is one history lesson you’ll never forget.
The following is the cast for the production of The Big Bang:
John Vessels as Boyd Graham. Vessels says he is thrilled to be back on stage after nearly two years, and he couldn’t be happier to be back on the stage at ATI. To stay busy and creative, he created – with partner Jay Schwandt – three online concerts starring his alter ego, Lillian Baxter (seen on this very stage in Lillian Baxter and Friends – We Enjoy Being a Girl). A 30-year veteran of theater and musical theater, he has spent the last year and a half teaching in the Department of Theatre and Dance at Ball State University. He has loved getting to watch his amazing students grow in the art that means so much to him.
Murrell
Vessels
Darrin Murrell as Jed Feuer. Murrell has worked as a professional actor, director, producer and educator for over 35 years with theatres all across the country including extensive work in Indianapolis, Chicago and Portland, Ore. Previous roles at ATI include Alfie Doolittle in My Fair Lady, Reverend Chrisparkle in The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Murray the Cop in The Odd Couple, Herr Schulz in Caberet as well as director of The Three Tenors, An Unnecessary Farce and two staged readings of new works. He is the multi-year recipient of the Indiana Arts Commission’s Individual Theatre Artist Grant Award and recently served as Artistic Director of Nettle Creek Players, Indiana’s historic summer stock tent theatre. He lives on his family’s homestead farm in Parker City, Ind., with his wife and two children, all of whom perform together as Main Street Artists.
Brent E. Marty as Albert. Marty has been actively involved in the Indianapolis arts community for over 20 years working with several local organizations as a director, musical director, performer, instructor, and accompanist. He currently serves as Director of Music and Education for Booth Tarkington Civic Theatre where he has music directed and supervised over 80 productions and administrates the state’s largest classroom-based theatre education program. He was named a 2015 Creative Arts Renewal Fellow by the Arts Council of Indianapolis and attended the Music Directing Intensive at the Goodspeed Opera House in Connecticut as part of his fellowship. He is a proud graduate of the Ball State University Department of Theatre & Dance and couldn’t be happier to return to the ATI stage. He will be serving as Music Director of this program, also.
Blatt
Marty
Michael Blatt, Director. Michael is a New York City-based director, producer and theatre educator. As a Director, Blatt has worked in Bergen, Norway, where he directed a new Norwegian translation of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s The Sound of Music. Michael is a co-founder of Little Red Light Theatre an Off Off Broadway theatre company specializing intimate musicals. He produced/directed Hello Again by Michael John LaChiusa and Thrill Me: the Leopold & Loeb Story with Little Red Light Theatre. He directed/choreographed All Kinds of People for Inside Broadway which toured NYC schools. Other directing credits include the 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels for ATI. He directed a world premiere of a new play Where a Certain Future by James Howard Carr at Northern Michigan University. Blatt is a recipient of the 2016 Outstanding Director Award for his work in Wimberley at The Mid-town International Theatre Festival and a member of The Playwriting and Directing Workshop at The Actors Studio. He is currently an adjunct Professor at The American Musical and Dramatic Academy in NYC directing/teaching in the Acting Department. He has an MFA in Directing from The Actors Studio Drama School at Pace University and a BFA from NYU, Tisch School of the Arts. He is a proud member of AEA, SAG/AFTRA and SDC. For more, visit MichaelBlatt.info.
Kevin Casey is the Production Stage Manager for ATI. Actors Theatre of Indiana’s own Don Farrell will serve as Jed’s understudy, with the understudy for the role of Boyd will be Jacob Barnes. Judy Fitzgerald is the Assistant Stage Manager. Liz Patton is Production Assistant. Scenic Designer is Paul B. Killian, Light Designer is Quinten James, Costume Designer is Katie Cowan Sickmeier, Zach Rosing is the Sound Designer, the Prop Master is Brianne Chalfant and Nico Rowland is the Sound Board Operator.
This play is rated PG-13. It will be performed at The Studio Theater located in The Center for the Performing Arts in Carmel. As the pandemic continues, ticket buyers agree to follow all health and safety protocols in the Center’s venues, including face coverings and proof of vaccination or testing.
Tickets are available at atistage.org or by calling the Box Office at The Center for the Performing Arts at (317) 843-3800.