Two travelers stand under cold blue light, each gripping a suitcase, with the company and their instruments ranged behind them on weathered wooden boards. The Public Theater has released the first production photos of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, a day before the North American premiere opens in the Newman Theater.
Joan Marcus shot the pictures, and they are dominated by instruments. Fiddles, guitars and an accordion turn up in nearly every frame, because the show is played by its cast: a company of 15 actor-musicians tells the story and plays the score. Andrew Durand plays Benjamin, the man who is born old and grows younger, and Kelsee Kimmel plays Elowen Keene. Other shots catch Durand with Morgan Morse, and with Katie Horner and Brandon J. Ellis, while Sachiko Mae takes center stage in another.
The musical moves F. Scott Fitzgerald's short story to a fishing village on the Cornish coast. Jethro Compton wrote the book and lyrics and directs, with music and lyrics by Darren Clark. The pair first staged it at Southwark Playhouse in London in 2019, and it went on to the West End and to Olivier Awards before this crossing. Chi-San Howard choreographs.
The rest of the company is Britney Coleman, Trevor Lindley Craft, Kris Saint-Louis, Claire-Frances Sullivan and Matt Wolpe, with Jo Brook, Casey Martin Klein, Lauren Jeanne Thomas and Spiff Wiegand as swings. Compton also designed the set, with costumes by Anna Kelsey, lighting by Zoe Spurr and sound by Luke Swaffield for Autograph Sound. Mark Aspinall is music director and shares the orchestrations and music supervision with Clark.
Performances began on October 8 with a Joseph Papp Free Performance. Official opening night is Wednesday, October 21, and the run has already been extended through December 6. When The Public set out its 2026-27 season, the show was listed only by its start date.
Tickets for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button are on sale now.
