Firebrand Theatre’s inaugural production, the bracing, four-star rock musical Lizzie, will add two weeks of performances after the holidays, the company announced today. The show, a reimagining of the axe-swinging tale of Lizzie Borden, will also welcome a new cast member during the extension—the rising Broadway star Ciara Renée.
Renée, whose NYC theater credits include a stint as the Leading Player in the recent Broadway revival of Pippin and last year’s Off Broadway production of Jonathan Larson’s Tick, Tick… BOOM!, has also appeared on the small screen as Hawkgirl in the CW’s DC Comics shows Legends of Tomorrow, Arrow and The Flash, and guest starred in season two of Master of None, as Arnie’s ex whose wedding he and Dev attend in Italy.
She’ll join Firebrand’s current cast members Liz Chidester, Jacquelyne Jones and Leah Davis for the extension, January 3–14, taking over from Camille Robinson as Lizzie’s sister Emma. Renée studied under Lizzie director Victoria Bussert at Ohio’s Baldwin Wallace University, and as an undergrad in 2012, played Emma in an earlier iteration of Lizzie staged by Bussert at Cleveland’s PlayhouseSquare. Lizzie’s current cast continues through this Sunday, December 17 at the Den Theatre.