Will Swenson to Replace Will Chase in ‘Little Miss Sunshine’

Kevin Wolf/Associated Press Will Swenson

The Tony Award-nominated actor Will Swenson (“Hair”) will replace Will Chase in Second Stage’s fall production of the musical comedy “Little Miss Sunshine,” the theater has announced. Mr. Chase withdrew from the production after being cast as a country music singer on the second season of the ABC show “Nashville.” His departure was first reported on Broadway.com.

In June, Second Stage announced that Mr. Chase and Stephanie J. Block would play Richard and Sheryl Hoover, the parents at the center of “Little Miss Sunshine,” a musical adaptation of the Oscar-nominated film about a couple who takes their dysfunctional family on a trip to a child beauty pageant. The show is by the Tony Award winners James Lapine (book and direction) and William Finn (music and lyrics). Previews are to begin Oct. 15, with opening night set for mid-November.

Mr. Swenson’s most recent New York show was the musical “Murder Ballad,” which closed in July. He had been announced to play Dr. Frank ‘N’ Furter in a fall production of “The Rocky Horror Show,” to be directed by Hunter Foster, at the Bucks County Playhouse in New Hope, Pa., beginning Oct. 23. A spokesperson for the Playhouse said a replacement would be named soon.