Becki Newton, Husband To Star In Encores! Girl Crazy

Grant Bowler says the Ugly Betty cast “consider themselves to be a bunch of East Coast theatre geeks who got lucky”.  Well, it would only be natural for Becki Newton (Amanda) to star on the stage, and that’s exactly what has happened.

Newton, along with her husband Chris Diamantopoulos will find love on stage in the Encores! presentation of the Gershwin musical Girl Crazy, under the direction of Tony-winner Jerry Zaks in November.  The two will play lovers Danny Churchill and Molly Gray.  Wayne Knight (Chicago) is cast as Gieber Goldfarb.

The show will run Nov. 19-22 at City Center. Finian’s Rainbow director and choreographer Warren Carlyle will choreograph, with musical direction by Rob Fisher.

Girl Crazy has music and lyrics by George Gershwin and Ira Gershwin and book by Guy Bolton and Jack McGowan. According to Encores! notes, "The Gershwins’ fanciful Depression-era musical of 1930 is the tale of a sophisticated New Yorker (Diamantopoulos) marooned in a dusty Western cow town with no one who understands him but the Yiddish-speaking cabbie (Knight) who brought him there and no one to love but the only woman (Newton) within 50 miles."

Becki has shown glimpses of musical brilliance in snippets on Ugly Betty.  Though farce, her performances of My Milkshake and Gene Simmons is My Daddy revealed some pretty good pipes.

Becki and Chris have some pretty big shoes to fill, considering the roles were initially filled by Allen Kearns (Mickey Rooney in the film) and Ginger Rogers (Judy Garland in the film).  Becki, here’s the standard you have to live up to :)

Seriously, though, this is going to be awesome!  If you are in the New York area Nov. 19-22, you REALLY should go see Becki and Chris in this one!

Image: SplashnewsOnline.com