Melissa Gilbert will reprise her role as Ma Ingalls in the national tour of 'Little House on the Prairie.'
The "Little House on the Prairie" tuner has laid plans for a national tour, with the road production kicking off with a five-week stint at the Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn, N.J. this fall.
Melissa Gilbert, who toplined the world preem of "Little House" at Minneapolis' Guthrie Theater last summer, will reprise her role as Ma Ingalls for the tour.
Gilbert co-stars with Steve Blanchard (as Pa) and Kara Lindsay (as Laura), also returning to roles they originated at the Guthrie.
Tuner, based on Laura Ingalls Wilder's series of books about a family's life on the frontier, will follow its stint in Jersey with stops at St. Paul, Denver, Toronto, Houston, Tempe and Sacramento, among others. Tour will hit more than 30 cities.
Ben Sprecher, Amy Sprecher, Louise Forlenza, Bob Boyett, Jay Harris, William Franzblau, Tony Fusco, Larry Feinman and Nelle Nugent produce "Little House" in association with Wendy Federman and Bob Reich.
"Little House" plays Millburn Sept. 10-Oct. 10. The show launches a Paper Mill season that includes stagings of Leonard Bernstein tuner "On the Town" (Nov. 11-Dec. 6), Neil Simon play "Lost in Yonkers" (Feb. 17-March 14, 2010), Leiber & Stoller revue "Smokey Joe's Café" (April 7-May 2, 2010) and the familiar musical adaptation of "Peter Pan" (June 2-June 27, 2010).
Contact Gordon Cox at
gordon.cox@variety.com