Bo Bice Is Broadway Bound in \'Pump Boys and Dinettes\'

Evan Agostini/AGOEV, via Associated Press Bo Bice

The Broadway revival of “Pump Boys and Dinettes” will begin preview performances March 19 at Circle in the Square Theater, the producers announced on Tuesday, and the ensemble of six actors will include Bo Bice, who was runner-up to Carrie Underwood on the fourth season of “American Idol.”

Mr. Bice and the rest of the cast â€" Alexander Gemignani, Erik Hayden, Justin Hosek, Jane Pfitsch, and Leenya Rideout â€" will also double as the show's band, playing guitar, piano, bass, fiddle accordion, harmonica, and va rious kitchen utensils. The director is John Doyle, a Tony Award winner in 2006 for the revival of “Sweeney Todd,” who is known for having his actors play instruments.

Conceived and written by its original Broadway company, which included Debra Monk and Cass Morgan, “Pump Boys and Dinettes” is a tribute to small-town American life as rendered at a gas station and roadside eatery on Highway 57 in North Carolina. The original production opened in 1982 and was nominated for a best musical Tony; it ran for 573 performances.

The revival will officially open on April 8.