Photo Flash: Musicals in Mufti's HIGH SPIRITS In Rehearsal, Opens Tonight 6/12

HIGH SPIRITS features Tony Award-nominee Veanne Cox (Caroline, or Change; Company) as Ruth, Beth Glover (Take Me Along; Irish Rep.) as Mrs. Bradman, Academy Award-nominee Carol Kane (Hester Street, "Taxi," Wicked) as Madame Arcati, Daren Kelly (Crazy for You) as Dr. Bradman, Janine LaManna (Enter Laughing, The Musical; Sweet Charity) as Elvira, Tony Award-nominee Howard McGillin (The Phantom of the Opera, Anything Goes) as Charles and Kirsten Wyatt (Grease) as Edith. The concert will be directed by Marc Bruni with music direction by Steven Freeman.

In the supernatural musical comedy HIGH SPIRITS, a happily remarried widower gets a surprise visit when a kooky medium mistakenly summons back his first wife from the "Other Side." Based on Noël Coward's Blithe Spirit (currently enjoying a hit revival on Broadway), this telepathic tuner was written by Hugh Martin (Meet Me in St. Louis) and Timothy Gray and competed for the 1964 Tony Award for Best Musical alongside Funny Girl and Hello, Dolly!

All performances will be presented at the Theatre at Saint Peter's (54th Street, just east of Lexington Ave.), Friday, June 12 at 8 PM; Saturday, June 13 at 2:30 & 8 PM; and Sunday, June 14 at 2:30 & 7:30 PM. A waiting list (in case of cancellations) will be created one hour prior to all performances. Audience talkbacks will follow both matinees. For more information, visit: www.yorktheatre.org.

‘Mufti' (pronounced MUFF' tee) means "in street clothes; without the usual trappings" and each show in the Series is presented script-in-hand with minimal staging. To date, the York has presented over 70 Mufti concert revivals of musical theatre gems from Broadway, Off-Broadway and London, celebrating such writers as Richard Rodgers, George Abbott, Larry Grossman and Joseph Stein. The 2009 Spring Series began with The Grand Tour (May 29-31) and ends with Knickerbocker Holiday (June 26-28).

Notable Musicals in Mufti presentations have included Enter Laughing, The Musical (which inspired The York's record-breaking Off-Broadway production), Take Me Along, The Grass Harp, Carmelina, Plain and Fancy, Lucky Stiff, Darling of the Day, Mata Hari, Carmen Jones, Billion Dollar Baby and 70, Girls, 70. TIME Magazine listed York's Mufti version of Darling of the Day as one of the Top Ten Theatrical Events of 2005, and AM New York referred to the Mufti Series as "increasingly essential."

For ticket information visit www.yorktheatre.org or call 212-935-5820.
THE York Theatre Company in Saint Peter's Theatre
54th Street Just east of Lexington
E or V train to Lexington Avenue or 6 train to 51st Street