24th June – Following the Rhinebeck Writers Retreat, where it won the Triple R Award and received a Pipeline Foundation Arts Grant, The Real Kyle McCarren, a new musical produced by Avalon (Operation Mincemeat – Olivier-Winning Best New Musical, Jerry Springer: The Opera – Olivier-Winning Best New Musical, One Man Musical), has announced its full cast and creative team comprising of NYC and Broadway actors and musicians ahead of its Edinburgh Festival Fringe and UK debut at Pleasance Courtyard Forth from 5th – 30th August at 1.50pm.
This modern rock and roll celebration of life stars its creators, Jonathan Larson Grant recipient Andy Roninson as himself and international indie recording artist Sean McVerry (AURORA, Danger Mouse) as Kyle McCarren. They are joined by Vincent Jamal Hooper (The Lion King, Hamilton) as Liam & Others, Jaygee Macapugay (Suffs, The Last Ship) as Siobhan & Others, and Sarah Coffey (31 Candles, Devil’s Workshop) as Justine & Others, returning after appearing in the 2025 Joe’s Pub show.
The Real Kyle McCarren is co-directed by long-time collaborators, multi-Emmy Award-winning and Tony Award-nominated Lonny Price and Matt Cowart, whose 20-year partnership spans Broadway, the West End, film and television. Their work includes Sunset Boulevard (Glenn Close), Beaches, Walking with Ghosts (Gabriel Byrne), and Sweeney Todd (Emma Thompson and Audra McDonald), which was later filmed for PBS and went on to become an Emmy Award-winning broadcast, alongside Emmy Award-winning Passion and Emmy Award-nominated Company. They are joined by Resident Director Jim Fagan, reuniting with Price and Cowart following their collaboration on Sweeney Todd.
The band includes Paige Durr (Six) on drums and Jamie Mohamdein (Mozart to Pop Chart) on bass.
Tickets for the Edinburgh Festival Fringe available to buy here. First press performance 10th August.
Welcome to Upstate Wherever, USA. Way back in the year two-thousand-who-cares, Kyle and Andy were more than friends, dammit — they were bandmates! But the real Kyle McCarren was a complicated dude. Well, an asshole. Worst of all, he’s dead — and he won’t let Andy forget it. Sometimes the easiest way to tell people about a buddy of yours is to write a show. In this musical-meets-live concert séance that’s equal parts Bo Burnham and Tick, Tick… Boom!, you’re invited to meet the legend himself.
Following its award-winning retreat development, the musical was further workshopped at New York City’s iconic Joe’s Pub at The Public Theater and Prospect Theater. The company will make its first full ensemble appearance at Joe’s Pub on 18th and 19th July ahead of the Edinburgh premiere.
Notes to Editors
Listings Information
The Real Kyle McCarren
Venue: Pleasance Courtyard, Plesance Forth
Dates: 5th-30th August
First Press Performance: Monday 10th August
Time: 1.50pm
Duration: 75 minutes
Instagram: @therealkylemccarren
Web: Pleasance.co.uk and EdFringe.com
Biographies
Sarah Coffey
Sarah Coffey most recently starred in the feature film 31 Candles, directed by Jonah Feingold and Tina Romero’s Queens of The Dead, which premiered at the 2025 Tribeca Film Festival and won the audience award. Her other credits include Lionsgate’s 2022 theatrical release Devil’s Workshop, alongside Emile Hirsch and Radha Mitchell, as well as Absolutely Production’s Citizen Weiner, directed by Daniel Robbins, which premiered at the Slam dance Film Festival. She’ll next be seen in Mouse directed by Kenny Riches (Grand Chameleon Award and Best Narrative Feature at the 2025 Brooklyn Film Festival, Best Narrative Feature at the CIFF) and Godhead directed by Mark H. Rapaport. After her viral success as an impressionist and comedian, Sarah was cast in Sam Grey and Stoney Sharp’s production Stapleview, the first-ever fully produced live sketch show on TikTok. Sarah is repped by TJ Doolan at UTA and Anna Weinstein at Avalon Management.
Matt Cowart
Matt Cowart has been collaborating with Lonny Price for the past 20 years. Together, they’ve worked on Broadway (Beaches, Walking with Ghosts, Sunset Boulevard, Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill, 110 in the Shade); the West End (Man of La Mancha, Carousel, Sweeney Todd); and National/International Tours (Peter Pan, West Side Story, and the upcoming Dirty Dancing). Additionally: Scotland, PA (Roundabout Theatre Company), The Louder We Get (Theatre Calgary), and Kiki Baby (NYMF). Film/TV: Hal Prince: The Director’s Life (PBS), Best Worst Thing That Ever Could Have Happened, Company, and Sweeney Todd (PBS Live from Lincoln Center).
Paige Durr
Paige Andrews (Durr) is a freelance drummer and educator in NYC. She is a diverse performer ranging from playing snare drum with the New York Giants Drumline to playing drum set for Labiahead, an all-female Radiohead cover band. She has been performing in theater productions for over 15 years. Broadway Credits: Six the Musical. Off Broadway: Bigfoot, My Joy is Heavy, Heathers, Big Gay Jamboree, A Sign of the Times. National Tours: Six the Musical and Spiderman: Into the Spider-verse. Paige is proudly sponsored by Vic Firth, Zildjian, and Ultimate Ears.
Jim Fagan
Jim Fagan is reuniting (and it feels so good!) with Lonny Price and Matt Cowart after assisting on their Emmy-winning Sweeney Todd (Emma Thompson and Audra McDonald). Recent direction includes Clown Bar One and Two by Adam Szymkowicz and the humbly titled Greatest One Man Show of All Time by Upright Citizens Brigade veteran John Trowbridge. Jim has written for The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, is co-EP and writer on Terrors of Jordan Mendoza (w/ Steve Buscemi), and has written, directed, and produced for Comedy Central, HBO, and more. Jim is not the posthumous A.I. voice of the NBA on NBC (of the same name), no matter what Google says. Jim is an Assistant Professor of Directing at Boston University and a lecturer at Boston College where he develops careers that greatly outshine his own. He’s a graduate of BC and The Actors Studio Drama School (MFA). Up next, Jim and his wife Carolyn are creating a children’s television program that uses theater arts to inspire creative play, though the couple’s greatest collaboration remains raising three really cool children in “upstate wherever.”
Vincent Hooper
Edinburgh debut! Vincent Jamal Hooper is a New York Times-featured interdisciplinary artist starring in the upcoming Netflix series, A Different World — premiering this September. Earlier this year, he completed a 2.5-year run as Simba in The Lion King on Broadway and, prior to that, traveled around the world performing in Hamilton — including in Puerto Rico alongside Lin-Manuel Miranda. Vincent is also an established independent recording artist & songwriter, with original music available on all streaming platforms under his stage name BOI WUNDER. Instagram: @vincentjamalhoope
Jaygee Macapugay
Originally from Chicago, IL, Broadway actress has called New York City home for over 20 years. Jaygee has a passion for developing new works, and is thrilled to make her Edinburgh Fringe debut with TRKM! Recent credits include The Last Ship with Sting at The Metropolitan Opera House and the Tony Award winning musical Suffs on Broadway. Other Broadway shows include: Andrew Lloyd Webber’s School of Rock, Shucked, Here Lies Love (original companies). Jaygee played the lead role of Imelda Marcos on Broadway in Here Lies Love, in an unprecedented, first all Filipino cast on Broadway. Off-Broadway shows include David Henry Hwang and Jeanine Tesori’s Soft Power and Hansol Jung’s Wild Goose Dreams. TV/Film: False Positive (Hulu), The Kennedy Center 50th Anniversary Concert (PBS), The Language Lesson (YouTube), The Tony Awards (CBS) and the short film His Two Daughters.
Sean McVerry
Sean McVerry is a Brooklyn, New York–based singer-songwriter, composer, and multi-instrumentalist whose work spans indie rock, commercial composition, and now musical theater. His solo music has amassed over 6M streams and has been featured on NBC, CBS, Adult Swim and various other networks. Over the years, he has collaborated and performed with artists including AURORA, Danger Mouse and Karen O, as well as indie rock mainstays We Are Scientists. He has also performed on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and composed music for a variety of advertising campaigns, developing a style rooted in cinematic melody and emotional storytelling. The Real Kyle McCarren marks Sean’s first foray into musical theater. He has been developing the project alongside Andy Roninson since 2023, bringing together original music, dark humor, and character-driven storytelling. He’s thrilled to be able to bring the show to life at the 2026 Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
Lonny Price
With The Ryle Kyle McKarren, Lonny celebrates his astonishing 20 year working relationship with his friend, Matt Cowart. Their collaborations includes Broadway’s Beaches, Gabriel Byrne’s Walking With Ghosts (Edinburgh, West End, Broadway), Audra McDonald in Lady Day At Emerson’s Bar and Grill, (West End, Broadway, HBO), Glenn Close in Sunset Blvd (English National Opera, Broadway) and Emma Thomson and Bryn Terfel in Sweeney Todd (NY Philharmonic, ENO, Great Performances). Additional Broadway work includes 110 In The Shade (Audra McDonald), ‘Master Harold’…and the boys (Danny Glover), Sally Marr, (Joan Rivers), A Class Act (Tony nomination with Linda Kline for Best Book). Television work Stephen Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd (Emmy Award), Company (Emmy nomination), Passion (Emmy Award) and The Birthday Concert (Emmy Award). Matt and Lonny made two documentaries—Hal Prince: The Director’s Life and Best Worst Thing That Ever Could Have Happened, which premiered at the New York Film Festival, and is available on Apple. As an actor he is mostly remembered for playing Charley Kringas in the original Broadway production of Merrily We Roll Along, and on film, Neil Kellerman, in Dirty Dancing.
Andy Roninson
Andy Roninson (he/him) is an NYC-based musical theater writer, orchestrator, and music director. He is a recipient of the American Theatre Wing’s Jonathan Larson Grant. The Real Kyle McCarren was accepted to the Rhinebeck Writers Retreat (as was Operation Mincemeat), winning the Triple R Award. It won a Pipeline Arts Foundation Grant, which funded an upcoming studio EP featuring Norbert Leo Butz, Kate Baldwin, and Jordan Fisher. His musical Soviet Rebel Girl, inspired by his refugee parents’ childhood and escape from the USSR, was developed at the Dramatists Guild Foundation Fellowship, the Johnny Mercer Grove at Goodspeed, and the Tony-honored BMI Workshop (Harrington Award, Sherman Scholarship). He created the first-of-its-kind ten-minute musical podcast Take A Ten, winning numerous awards. Episodes have been produced live around the world and published by MTI and Concord. He composed the music for the hit Korean, hard rock musical Shadow, which was nominated for five KMAs, including Best Score and Best Orchestrations. He created the viral TikTok series Small Moments in Big Musicals. AndyRoninson.com
