Andrew Durand Lands Title Role in Benjamin Button Off Broadway
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- Andrew Durand, a Tony nominee for Dead Outlaw currently starring in Broadway's The Rocky Horror Show, will take the title role in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, its North American premiere Off Broadway at the Public Theater this fall.
- The Public Theater production begins previews October 8, opens October 21, and runs through November 15 at the Newman Theater, with a company of 15 actor-musicians.
- Kelsee Kimmel (Broadway's Hell's Kitchen and Six) will play Elowen Keene, the musical's version of the film's Daisy and the short story's Hildegarde, alongside Britney Coleman, Trevor Lindley Craft, Brandon J. Ellis, Katie Horner, Sachiko Mae, Morgan Morse, Kris Saint-Louis, Claire-Frances Sullivan and Matt Wolpe.
- The musical won the Olivier Award for Best New Musical in 2025 and features book by Jethro Compton, music by Darren Clark, and lyrics by Clark and Compton, who will again direct and provide scenic design.
- The staging reassembles the original London creative team including choreographer Chi-San Howard, music director Mark Aspinall, costume designer Anna Kelsey, lighting designer Zoe Spurr, and sound designer Luke Swaffield, with orchestrations by Aspinall and Clark.
- The adaptation reimagines F. Scott Fitzgerald's short story—previously a Brad Pitt/Cate Blanchett film—setting the reverse-aging tale in a Cornish fishing village with Cornish names, tracing the main character's life from World War I through the 20th century.
Why it matters: An Olivier-winning hit making its North American premiere is a significant booking for the Public Theater, and the casting of Durand—a current Tony nominee and Broadway veteran—as the title character signals the Off Broadway staging is being treated as a prestige event rather than a developmental tryout.
