”Life of Pi” announces Broadway cast – including West End stars

Complete casting has been announced for the Broadway premiere of Lolita Chakrabarti’s Life of Pi, based on the novel by Yann Martel. Performances begin 9 March at the Schoenfeld Theatre, with opening set for 30 March.

Leading the company will be original West End stars Hiran Abeysekera as Pi and Fred Davis and Scarlet Wilderink, who are among the actors who puppeteer the tiger named Richard Parker. All three won Olivier Awards for their work. Adi Dixit, who starred in the recent American Repertory Theatre production, will serve as the Pi alternate.

Joining them will be Mahira Kakkar as Nurse/Amma/Orange Juice, Rajesh Bose as Father, Brian Thomas Abraham as Cook/Voice of Richard Parker, Avery Glymph as Father Martin/Russian Sailor/Rear Admiral Jackson, Kirstin Louie as Lulu Chen, Salma Qarnain as Mrs. Biology Kumar/Zaida Khan, Sathya Sridharan as Mamaji/Pandit-Ji, Daisuke Tsuji as Mr. Okamoto/Captain, and Sonya Venugopal as Rani.

Directed by Max Webster, Life of Pi has sets and costumes by Tim Hatley, puppet and movement direction by Finn Caldwell, puppet design by Nick Barnes and Caldwell, video by Andrzej Goulding, lighting by Tim Lutkin, sound by Carolyn Downing, music by Andrew T. Mackay, and dramaturgy by Jack Bradley.

After a cargo ship sinks in the middle of the vast Pacific Ocean, a 16-year-old boy name Pi is stranded on a lifeboat with four other survivors – a hyena, a zebra, an orangutan, and a 450-pound Royal Bengal tiger.

Life of Pi is the winner of the 2020 WhatsOnStage Award for Best New Play.