SILENCE! THE MUSICAL Closes Today at Hayworth Theatre

The Los Angeles Company of the Off-Broadway smash hit Silence! The Musical at the Hayworth Theatre ends its run today, December 9, 2012.

Winner of the 2012 Off Broadway Alliance Award for Best Musical, Silence! The Musical is the unauthorized parody of The Silence of the Lambs, with book by Hunter Bell, music & lyrics by Jon Kaplan and Al Kaplan, and direction & choreography by Christopher Gattelli. Silence! The Musical and is produced by Theater Mogul.

Two of the creators of Silence! The Musical won 2012 Tony Awards – director-choreographer Christopher Gattelli for his choreography for Newsies, and lighting designer Jeff Croiter for his work on Peter and the Starcatcher. The costumes are by David Kaley, sound by Carl Casella, set is based on the original design by Scott Pask, video by Richard H. DiBella, and wig design by Byron Batista.

Davis Gaines, one of Los Angeles most popular musical theatre performers, plays Hannibal Lecter. Gaines performed the title role in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom of The Opera more than 2,000 times at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles, in San Francisco, and on Broadway; he recently played the role of King Arthur in Musical Theatre West’s production of Spamalot.

Gaines is joined by Christine Lakin in the role of Clarice Starling. Lakin is known for her role on the series “Step by Step” and as news anchor Joyce Kinney on “Family Guy.” Kathy Deitch, Jeff Hiller, Alaine Kashian, La Toya London, Jesse Merlin, Melissa Sandvig, Jeff Skowron, Andy Umberger, Stephen Van Dorn, and Karl Warden are also in the cast.

Created by Jon Kaplan and Al Kaplan in 2002, Silence! The Musical began as a collection of songs on the internet which immediately attracted a staggering number of fans. The Kaplans' subsequent screenplay Silence! The Musical was adapted by Hunter Bell into a live stage show, which featured newly composed songs by the brothers. Fueled by an enthusiastic cult following, Silence! The Musical shattered every box office record at the 2005 FringeNYC Festival, winning the award for Best Musical. Silence! The Musical met with further success in London where it garnered ecstatic reviews at the Above The Stag Theatre.

The Off-Broadway production opened on July 9, 2011 to unanimous rave reviews. The show immediately became a sold-out phenomenon and was selected by Time Magazine as one of the year’s Top 10. The show also won four 2012 Tina Awards. The New York Company continues performances at the Elektra Theatre. The Los Angeles company began previews on August 31, 2012 and had its official opening on September 8, 2012. When Silence! The Musical closes today, December 9, it will have had six previews and 61 performances.

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