Annaleigh Ashford Joins Jake Gyllenhaal in SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE at City Center; Benefit Shows Added!

Great news this morning! New York City Center's gala concert performance of Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine's SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE will now star Tony Award winner Annaleigh Ashford opposite Jake Gyllenhaal, previously announced in the title role of George. Ashford will make her Sondheim debut in the role of Dot.

Plus, in response to the overwhelming demand for performance-only tickets to the the performance on October 24 honoring Adrienne Arsht, there will now be two added performances at 7:30pm on Tuesday, October 25 and Wednesday, October 26.

Funds raised by all three performances will allow City Center to make the best in the performing Arts Accessible to the widest possible audience by subsidizing affordable tickets throughout the year to programs such as Fall for Dance and Encores! Off-Center.

Ashford has starred on Broadway in Sylvia (with Matthew Broderick), You Can't Take It With You (Tony Award, Best Featured Actress in a Play), Kinky Boots, Wicked, Hair, and Legally Blonde. She is a series regular on "Masters of Sex" and recently completed work on "The Rocky Horror Picture Show," which will air on FOX in October.

The Pulitzer Prize-winning musical SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE follows painter Georges Seurat (Gyllenhaal) in the months leading up to the completion of his most famous painting, A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte. Consumed by his need to "finish the hat," Seurat alienates the French bourgeoisie, spurns his fellow artists, and neglects his lover Dot (Ashford), not realizing that his actions will reverberate over the next 100 years.

Tickets for the performances on October 25 and 26 start at $75 and go on sale to New York City Center Members on Monday, July 18 at noon. Remaining inventory will go on sale to the General Public on Wednesday, July 20 at noon. Tickets for the gala performance and dinner at The Plaza Hotel on October 24 are currently on sale for $2,500, $5,000 and $10,000. Tables of ten are available at $25,000, $50,000, $100,000 and $150,000. For benefit table and ticket details, call 212.763.1205.

New York City Center (Arlene Shuler, President & CEO) has played a defining role in the cultural life of the city since 1943. It was Manhattan's first performing arts center, dedicated by Mayor Fiorello La Guardia with a mission to make the best in music, theater, and dance accessible to all audiences. Today, City Center is home to many distinguished companies, including Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, City Center's Principal Dance Company, as well as Manhattan Theatre Club; a roster of renowned national and international visiting artists; and its own critically acclaimed and popular programs. The Tony-honored Encores! musical theater series has been hailed as "one of the very best reasons to be alive in New York." In summer 2013, City Center launched Encores! Off-Center, a series that features landmark Off-Broadway musicals filtered through the lens of today's most innovative artists. Dance has been integral to the theater's mission from the start-and dance programs, including the annual Fall for Dance Festival, remain central to City Center's identity. Vital partnerships with arts organizations including Jazz at Lincoln Center and London's Sadler's Wells Theatre enhance City Center's programmatic offerings. City Center brings dance and musical theater to over 9,000 New York City students each year through its robust education program, and other learning opportunities are offered to seniors, families, and the general public. City Center is expanding its programming beyond the proscenium and activating its alternative spaces with pre-show talks, master classes, exhibitions of visual art, and intimate performances that give an up-close look at the work of the great theater and dance artists of our time. In October 2011, City Center completed an extensive renovation project to revitalize and modernize its historic theater.

Photo Credit: Walter McBride