MARLA MINDELLE IS NICOLE KIDMAN & JOSH SHARP IS CATE BLANCHETT IN “A KIDMAN CAROL” BY KEVIN ZAK
Press Contact:
Rick Miramontez / Kendall Edwards
rick@omdkc.com / kendall@omdkc.com
212 695 7400
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, PLEASE
MARLA MINDELLE IS NICOLE KIDMAN
AND
JOSH SHARP IS CATE BLANCHETT
IN
KEVIN ZAK’S
“A KIDMAN CAROL: A GAY DEMENTIA ON AUSTRALIAN DAMES”
To download key art, click here. To download photos, click here.
New York, NY (December 2, 2025) – Benson Drive Productions (George Strus, CEO) announced today that Marla Mindelle and Josh Sharp will star as Nicole Kidman and Cate Blanchett, respectively, in a developmental production of A Kidman Carol: A Gay Dementia On Australian Dames. Written and directed by Kevin Zak (Ginger Twinsies), the brand-new production will premiere Off-Broadway at Theater 511 (511 West 54th Street, New York, NY 10019) for 5 performances only from December 17-21, 2025.
Get into the spirit of the season … Awards Season, that is, with this irreverent, blistering and truly bananas take on Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. On Oscars Eve 2023, brilliant actress and Hollywood Scrooge Cate Blanchett (Tár Humbug!) is visited by three different spirits of Nicole Kidman in order to learn the true meaning of Awards Season. Will she not only save her own soul but also cinema as a human art form? A Kidman Carol is a vicious, chaotic farce that sends up Tár, The Hours, Carol, The Lord of The Rings, The Undoing, To Die For, The Others, Notes on a Scandal, Blue Jasmine, Big Little Lies, and so much more from the Kidman/Blanchett canon. Ohr nohr!
In addition to Mindelle and Sharp, the cast will also feature Renée Albulario, Robi Hager, and Phillip Taratula. To download headshots, click here.
Tickets start at $30 and are now available at www.akidmancarol.com. Five dollars from each ticket purchased will be donated to New York Cares. For more information, please follow @akidmancarol on social media.
Creative team for A Kidman Carol: A Gay Dementia On Australian Dames will include costume design by Wilberth Gonzalez and Wig Design by Krystal Balleza & Will Vicari. Envoy Theatricals/Samuel Dallas will serve as general manager, Alex Dash will serve as company manager, and Ryan Gohsman will serve as Production Stage Manager, and Gracie Carleton will serve as Deck Stage Manager. Marketing and Advertising is by Regular People. A Kidman Carol is produced in association with Bryan McCaffrey.
BIOGRAPHIES
MARLA MINDELLE earned the Lucille Lortel Award and Obie Award for her performance as Céline Dion in the hit musical Titanique, which she also co-wrote; the show later won an Olivier Award for its West End run. Broadway credits include Sister Act (Outer Critics Circle nomination), Cinderella, and South Pacific. Off-Broadway, she co-created and starred in The Big Gay Jamboree. On screen, Marla appears as Olivia in the Emmy-nominated Netflix series “Special” and recently filmed the feature I Play Rocky.
JOSH SHARP is a New York-based actor, writer and comedian. He recently concluded the off-Broadway run of his solo show Josh Sharp: ta-da! He is one of the stars, writers and executive producers of a24’s Dicks: The Musical. He directed Michael Cruz Kayne’s Sorry For Your Loss at the Minetta Lane Theater. He has also appeared in The Opposition With Jordan Klepper (Comedy Central), Search Party (HBO), At Home With Amy Sedaris (TruTV), Matt Rogers: Have You Heard of Christmas? (Showtime), 2 Dope Queens (HBO) and The Iliza Shlesinger Sketch Show (Netflix).
RENÉE ALBULARIO is delighted to help deck the halls of A Kidman Carol. Originally from California, now firmly a New York actor/director, she’s been busy on Broadway as assistant director (Just in Time), assistant choreographer (Here Lies Love), and a singing dancing human in David Byrne’s American Utopia. Other favorites: City Center’s The Wild Party, JRB’s The Connector, Reefer Madness, and the Untitled B52s Project. Regional credits include Seattle Rep, Weston Playhouse, NCT, and Ogunquit. On screen, you may have spotted her on “The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon,” “One Life to Live,” MTV, or Ricki & the Flash. Huge Kevin Zak fan. Proud NYU/Tisch grad. @rennie11
ROBI HAGER Broadway: Spring Awakening, How to Succeed…, Bye Bye Birdie and Doctor Zhivago. Tour and Regional: Spring Awakening, Fun Home, Jonathan in tick, tick…Boom! Night Side Songs, and others. As a composer, his musical Little Duende was accepted at the O’Neill Center for their ‘21 NMTC, ‘21 NAMT festival, Rhinebeck Writer’s Retreat, and Lortel 121 project. His other musical Siluetas was also accepted the following year at O’Neill Center’s 2022 NMTC and received a world premiere production in Philadelphia June ‘24. @robihager
PHILLIP TARATULA’s credits include Broadway’s The Skin of Our Teeth (LCT) and Off-Broadway’s Ginger Twinsies (The Orpheum), The Beastiary (Ars Nova), and Becomes a Woman (Mint Theater Co.). He has performed at the Metropolitan Opera, New Victory, and regionally at Barrington Stage, Williamstown Theatre Festival, and others. Film/TV: Almost Love, And Just Like That, Dr. Death, FBI, High Maintenance. National tour: What the Constitution Means to Me. BFA, Boston University.
KEVIN ZAK is the writer and director of the Off-Broadway comedy Ginger Twinsies. He is also recently provided additional material for Rob Lake Magic with Special Guests The Muppets on Broadway. He’s been involved either as an actor or creative on such productions as Death Becomes Her, Waitress, Clinton the Musical (Lucille Lortel Nom.), and Silence! The Musical (Off-Bway and 2024 UK production). He is also writing the book for the musical adaptation of The NY Times best-selling memoir Running With Scissors, by Augusten Burroughs. Currently, Kevin is developing television pilots with Zachary Quinto, Andrew Rannells, Victor Quinaz, and Tim Federle. @kevinjzak
BENSON DRIVE PRODUCTIONS is a New York-based production company developing projects from the mind of George Strus (they/them), who grew up on Benson Drive dreaming of making theatre. BDP recently produced Trisha Paytas’ Big Broadway Dream starring Trisha Paytas, Sutton Foster, Ben Platt, Joy Woods, and Rachel Zegler, raising over $150,000 for the Entertainment Community Fund. Additionally, BDP produced a reading of Mathilde Dratwa’s A Play About David Mamet Writing A Play About Harvey Weinstein directed by Leslye Headland and starring Abbi Jacobson, Billy Eichner, and Helené Yorke, raising over $15,000 for NYCLU. Upcoming projects include Amber Ruffin’s Bigfoot (premiering off-Broadway in February 2026), a.k. payne’s Furlough’s Paradise, a musical adaptation of The Danish Girl, Neil Simon’s Rumors and over 20 projects in various stages of development. Strus’ independent co-producing credits include Stephen Sondheim’s Here We Are (off-Broadway), Illinoise (Tony nomination), Oh Mary! (Tony nomination), Romeo + Juliet (Tony nomination), Evita (West End), and the upcoming Cats: The Jellicle Ball (Broadway), Proof (Broadway), and End Of The Rainbow (UK) starring Jinkx Monsoon. Strus also founded the Obie Award-winning Breaking the Binary Theatre, was a 2024 recipient of the prestigious Prince Fellowship, and was recently accepted as a member of the 2025 Shubert Organization Artistic Circle. www.georgestrus.com
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