BOUNCE off-Broadway

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By Adam Hetrick

Tony Award-winning director John Doyle, currently represented on
Broadway with the new musical A Catered Affair, will helm Stephen
Sondheim and John Weidman's latest musical, Bounce, in a full production
at the Public Theater.

The Public's connection with Bounce dates back to 2006 when Eric
Schaeffer helmed an industry reading. 

Bounce follows the personal and professional adventures of brothers
Addison and Wilson Mizner. An exploration of the boldness and darker
shadows of the American spirit, the musical is also a personal story of
those who are willing to risk it all to grab a piece of the American
dream. 

The musical comedy has undergone several workshops, titles and rewrites,
with Sam Mendes at one time attached as the director of the then-titled
Wise Guys in 1999. 

Sondheim's long-time collaborator and fellow theatrical innovator Hal
Prince staged the world premiere of Bounce in 2003 at the Goodman
Theatre. The production marked the first professional reunion of Prince
and Sondheim since Merrily We Roll Along in 1981.

Bounce was originally to have made its way to Broadway in 2004 following
engagements at the Goodman and the Kennedy Center. Producer Roger
Berlind scuttled Broadway plans for the musical, and the project has
been available to theatre aficionados only through its cast recording
from Nonesuch Records.

No casting or dates have been announced for the Public Theater run.
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