Above: EPAC veteran Eliseo Roman, portraying “Buddy Garcia,” rehearses with Georgi James (as “Olive”) for La Jolla Playhouse's world-premiere musical "Little Miss Sunshine." Photo from the North Country Times.
Below: Jonathan Groff in a scene from the film “Twelve Thirty.” Photo from the film’s official website.
WHAT’S NEW WITH A COUPLE OF EPAC ALUMNI …
Nonprofit community theater is many things … including a training ground for professional actors and Broadway stars. EPAC is no exception. Here’s what’s new with a couple of stellar EPAC veterans:
ELISEO ROMAN: Beginning tomorrow (Tuesday, Feb. 15), former EPAC actor (and Lancaster native) Eliseo Roman will be appearing in the world-premiere musical “Little Miss Sunshine” (based on the popular indie film) at the prestigious La Jolla Playhouse in California. You might remember Eliseo from such 1990s EPAC roles as Dr. Neville Craven in "The Secret Garden"; El Gallo in “The Fantasticks,” and Judas in “Jesus Christ, Superstar.” Now a New York City resident, Eliseo made his Broadway debut as Piragua Guy in the Tony-winning musical “In the Heights.” He also sings with Broadway Inspirational Voices.
“Little Miss Sunshine” was written by William Finn and James Lapine and is directed by Lapine (a Franklin & Marshall College graduate). Lapine wrote the book for the Stephen Sondheim musical, “Into the Woods,” being presented at EPAC April 28-May 14. The Finn/Lapine team also collaborated on “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee,” a 2010 offering at EPAC.
You can see some rehearsal footage from "Little Miss Sunshine" on the website of the The San Diego Union-Tribune. Look for Eliseo at about the 2:20 mark.
JONATHAN GROFF: Fresh from his London West End debut, portraying Clifford Anderson in the play “Deathtrap,” Jonathan Groff can be seen in two upcoming films: “Twelve-Thirty” and “The Conspirator.”
Jonathan, who starred in “Batboy” and “Honk!” at EPAC, earned a Tony nomination for his portrayal of Melchior Gabor in “Spring Awakening” on Broadway, and has appeared as “Jesse St. James” on the TV show “Glee.” Jonathan also appeared in a benefit cabaret for the theater, and was a “prize” (well, a dinner with him) at the theater’s New Year’s Eve benefit raffle. EPAC appreciates Jonathan’s generosity in helping raise funds in order to put on future productions.
Jonathan received great reviews for his portrayal of Michael Lang in Ang Lee's "Taking Woodstock." Starting this month, Jonathan can be seen as Jeff (a young man who affects all of the members of a broken family in the course of one week) in the Jeff Lipsky film “Twelve Thirty.” More information about the film (including a trailer featuring Jonathan) is available at the movie’s official website.
In “The Conspirator,” Jonathan portrays Louis Weichmann, one of the chief witnesses for the prosecution in the conspiracy trial surrounding the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. “The Conspirator,” a Robert Redford-directed film featuring Robin Wright and James McAvoy, is scheduled to open in April. More information about the film is available at the official website. You can see Jonathan briefly at about the 1:40 mark in the trailer for the film.
In addition, Jonathan recently came home to Lancaster County to visit his old middle school (where he first began acting). His visit was covered by the Intelligencer Journal/Lancaster New Era . Jonathan recently gave an interview to Playbill.com, in which he talked about “Deathtrap,” “Glee,” “Twelve-Thirty” and “The Conspirator.” You can read it here.
# -- Merv Wright
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