''Lucky Guy'' is a musical comedy written and directed by Willard Beckham. The piece tells the story of Billy Ray Jackson, a young musician from Oklahoma who wins a songwriting contest and is invited to Nashville to record his song. He becomes the target of the used-car dealer Big Al Wright and the fading star Miss Jeannie Jeannine (the "Queen of Country Music"), who want to steal Billy Ray's song and use it to revitalize Jeannie's career. The show premiered on May 19, 2011, Off-Broadway at the Little Shubert Theatre, for a planned run through July 24 but closed after just ten days. The cast included

Kyle Dean Massey Kyle Dean Massey (born November 17, 1981) is an American actor and singer. He is best known for his leading roles in the Broadway musicals ''Wicked'' – for which he has played Fiyero on-and-off from 2007 to 2019 – ''Next to Normal,'' and '' ...

(as Billy Ray Jackson),

Leslie Jordan Leslie Allen Jordan (April 29, 1955 – October 24, 2022) was an American actor, comedian, writer, and singer. His television roles include Supporting characters on Will & Grace, Beverley Leslie on ''Will & Grace'' (2001–2006 and 2017–2020) ...

(Big Al Wright),

Varla Jean Merman Varla Jean Merman is a character originated and portrayed by Jeffery Roberson, an American actor, singer and drag performer. Varla's fictitious pedigree boasts that Ernest Borgnine is her father and Ethel Merman is her mother. Merman is perhaps be ...

(Miss Jeannie Jeannine),

Jenn Colella Jenn Colella (born Jennifer Lin Colella) is an American actress and singer. She began her career as a comedian and then branched out into musical theater. In her New York debut in ''Urban Cowboy'', she earned a 2003 Outer Critics Circle Award no ...

(Chicky Lay), Jim Newman (G. C. Wright), and

Savannah Wise Savannah Wise (born April 25, 1984) is an American actress, dancer, and singer. She played Jessica on the NBC American musical theatre dramedy television series '' Smash''. She is also known for her work on Broadway as Evelyn Nesbit in the 2009 r ...

(Wanda Clark). A new production of the show was put on by the Center For Theater Arts, a performing arts school in the Pittsburgh, PA area in 2020. Willard Beckham worked with the executive director of the school, Billy Hartung, to make the show more suitable for a very large high-school age cast.

References

External links

*
The Guide to Musical Theatre
2011 musicals Off-Broadway musicals Original musicals Musicals set in Tennessee {{musical-theat-stub