The Broadway Revival 2000

About Bierko's Casting

Someone with close ties to the production
had the following to offer about Craig Bierko and the show,
shortly after Craig was signed to do the part-

"Rehearsals are tentatively scheduled to begin in December
and the show is supposed to open in late February or early March.
They have not contracted a theater,
but the Eugene O'Neill is high on the list.
Craig auditioned three times for the role
(Scott Bakula was his main competition)
and the last audition had him doing 5 songs!
The director called him and said,
"We couldn't picture any one else in the hat. You ARE Harold Hill."
His last hurdle was a personal audition
in front of Meredith Willson's widow.
Supposedly she held the rights to the show,
and she approved of Craig enthusiastically.

Craig's recent films include: "The Thirteenth Floor", "Sour Grapes",
"The Suburbans" and "The Long Kiss Goodnight".
This will be his first Broadway appearance.
Prior to his recent films, he was under contract with NBC
where they developed a number of series for him
that never went past one season.
He was twice offered the role of the student leader
in Les Miserables on Broadway
but he turned it down because he was focusing his energies on film.
He's been a working actor out in LA for close to fifteen years
(he was a horrible waiter, he says, so he had to work!)
since he graduated from Northwestern's theater program in 1982."

I personally find that very encouraging,
and am very excited to see Bierko in the role.
I know that there has been a lot of speculation
about whether a relative unknown in the theater world
will be able to carry the part successfully,
but based on the reaction of the producers,
he is apparently the right one for the role.
It should be noted that similar things were said
about Robert Preston before he made
the character into the classic that it is,
and that the original producers back in 1957
also had the same reaction once they found Preston
that the current producers have about Bierko...

The Broadway Revival 2000

Cast List
Cast Bios
About Bierko's Casting
Links & Articles
My Review