Kieran Turner and Michael Canzoniero, Executive Producers of acclaimed web series WALLFLOWERS, announced this week that stage and film actor Lucas Near-Verbrugghe, most recently seen on Broadway in “Bloody, Bloody Andrew Jackson,” will be taking over the lead role of ‘Bryce Hunter’ in episodes 4 & 5. Near-Verbrugghe replaces Tony-nominated actor Chad Kimball, who played the role in episodes 1 – 3.
Citing a scheduling conflict with Kimball during additional shooting which took place last December, the producers chose to re-cast the role rather than writing out the character.
Turner chose to introduce the cast change in a tongue-in-cheek promo which parodies classic TV character swaps in a grand, over the top, soap opera style. “We wanted to have fun with the idea of doing this kind of actor change. Most shows want it to be as seamless as possible, but it’s always a bump when you first see it. We wanted to get that out of the way before the next episode, so we shot a very funny promo that makes light of every former TV cast change from Darrin Stephens of ‘Bewitched’ to Steven Carrington of ‘Dynasty’ and beyond. This way our audience is used to the idea, can laugh at it and be ready to move forward with the show when Episode 4 premieres on May 8th.”
“We love Chad and are grateful to him for his enthusiasm for the show and his work in the role of Bryce. He’s certainly brought us a large number of viewers through his fan-base. We wish him well in future projects and remain admirers of his,” said Kieran Turner, creator/Executive Producer of WALLFLOWERS. “We are incredibly thrilled to welcome our new cast member, Lucas Near-Verbrugghe, into the role of “Bryce Hunter.’ He’s brought a much different take to the character, one we are very excited to share with fans of the show. No one could replace Chad, but we think they will love Lucas as much as we do.”
WALLFLOWERS premiered April 3rd on Blip TV and has amassed several thousand views in its first three weeks on the site.
Set in the cruelly comedic dating world of modern NYC, WALLFLOWERS details the disastrous romantic exploits of a tight knit group of Gen-X stragglers coping with the ecstasy and the agony of single life – as members of a Manhattan support group for the hopelessly single.
WALLFLOWERS stars a talented cast of NYC based theatre and film actors, including Sarah Saltzberg (creator /star of Broadway’s hit musical The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee), Angela Lin (Broadway’s Chinglish), Gideon Glick (Broadway’s Spring Awakening & Spider Man: Turn Off The Dark), Gibson Frazier (Man of the Century), Christianne Tisdale (Broadway’s Beauty & The Beast) and Marcia DeBonis (That’s What She Said, The Truman Show, Whatever Works).
The series was created, written and directed by Kieran Turner (2012 doc film festival hit Jobriath A.D). Series was produced by Nicholas Brennan, and Executive Produced by Turner and Michael Canzoniero (Wedding Bros starring Tony Winner Dan Fogler, Jon Polito and Brendan Sexton III, upcoming comedy “Don Peyote” starring Dan Fogler and Wallace Shawn.) Series was produced by LA based Eight Track Tape Productions and NYC boutique company Studio 13.