Photo Coverage: Stephanie J. Block & More Celebrate the Transport Group with BABY Concert

Transport Group, the Drama Desk and OBIE award-winning theatre company, presented its one-night-only, all-star concert of the acclaimed 1983 Broadway musical Baby at the Lucille Lortel Theatre, last night, June 18. 

Cast members included Jill Abramovitz (9 to 5, Martin Short’s Fame Becomes Me), Patrick Boll (Mamma Mia), John Bolton (Curtains, Titanic), Robert Creighton (Anything Goes), Christina DeCicco (Evita), Jeffry Denman (White Christmas), Malcolm Gets (Tony nominee for Amour), Colin Hanlon (Rent, Submissions Only), James Hindman (City of Angels, Mary Poppins), Rachel Bay Jones (Women on the Verge, A Christmas Story), Stephanie Kurtzuba (Billy Elliot, Mary Poppins), Nikka Graff Lanzarone (Women on the Verge, Chicago), Daniel C. Levine (Chicago), Kecia Lewis-Evans (Leap of Faith), Paolo Montalban (Cinderella, Pacific Overtures), Jessica Phillips (Leap of Faith), Charlie Pollock (9 to 5), Leenya Rideout (Company), Kate Shindle (Legally Blonde), Alexandra Silber (Master Class), Ali Stroker (The Glee Project), Wes Taylor (The Addams Family, NBC’s Smash), Christianne Tisdale (Beauty and the Beast, On A Clear Day), Kate Wetherhead (Legally Blonde, Submissions Only), and Betsy Wolfe (Encores’ Merrily We Roll Along).

They joined all-stars Nancy Anderson (2-time Drama Desk nominee for Fanny Hill and Jolson And Co.), Sebastian Arcelus (Elf), Stanley Bahorek (The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, See Rock City & Other Destinations), Courtney Balan (Rated P for Parenthood, Cry Baby), Stephanie J. Block (two-time Drama Desk nominee for By the way, Meet Vera Stark and 9 to 5, Anything Goes), Andrea Burns (Drama Desk winner for In The Heights), Alan Campbell (Tony nominee for Sunset Boulevard), Lewis Cleale (The Book of Mormon, Drama Desk nominee for Swinging on a Star), Jenny Fellner (Wicked, Pal Joey), Santino Fontana (Drama Desk winner for Brighton Beach Memoirs, Lortel winner for Sons of the Prophet), Jonathan Hammond (Ragtime, Obie winner for The Boys in the Band), Ann Harada (Avenue Q, NBC’s Smash), Morgan James (Godspell), Lauren Kennedy (Spamalot, Side Show), Julia Murney (Drama Desk nominee for The Wild Party, Wicked, Queen of the Mist), Kerry O'Malley (Drama Desk nominee for Into the Woods, White Christmas), Jill Paice (Curtains), Mamie Parris (Ragtime), Bryce Ryness (Drama Desk nominee for Hair), Meredith Ryness, Brian Sears (The Book of Mormon), Cheryl Stern (La Cage, The Women), Bob Stillman (Tony nominee for Dirty Blonde), and Josh Young (Tony nominee for Jesus Christ Superstar).

The evening was directed by Jack Cummings III, with musical direction by Chris Haberl. Original cast members Liz Callaway and Todd Graff, who received Tony Award nominations for their performances, hosted the evening. David Shire and Richard Maltby joined them, as well as other original cast members, for a discussion following the performance.

In Baby three couples, each newly expecting a child, have different but familiar reactions to the life-changing news of pregnancy. Lizzie and Danny are university juniors who have just moved in together. Athletic Pam and her husband, Nick, a sports instructor, have had some trouble conceiving. Arlene, already the mother of three grown daughters, is unsure of what to do, contemplating abortion while her husband Alan is thrilled with the thought of a new baby. Throughout the show they experience the emotional stresses and triumphs— the desperate lows and the comic highs—that accompany the anticipation and arrival of a baby.

Baby, with a book by Sybille Pearson, music by David Shire, lyrics by Richard Maltby, Jr., based upon a story developed with Susan Yankowitz, opened on December 4, 1983 at Broadway’s Ethel Barrymore Theatre. The production received seven Tony Award nominations, including Best Musical and six Drama Desk Award nominations, including Outstanding Musical, winning two Drama Desk Awards—Outstanding Featured Actor and Actress in a Musical.

For more on The Transport Group, visit www.transportgroup.org.

Jack Cummings III

Todd Graff and Liz Callaway

The cast of "Baby"

The cast of "Baby"

The cast of "Baby"

The cast of "Baby"

Sebastian Arcelus

Stephanie J. Block