TV: Chatting with John Turturro, Marin Mazzie & the Company of Encores! ZORBA!; Plus Performance!

John Turturro will star in the title role of Zorba, joined by Adam Chanler-Berat, Robert Cuccioli, Elizabeth A. Davis,Santino Fontana, Marin Mazzie, Robert Montano, Carlos Valdes and Zoë Wanamaker in ZORBA!, running for seven performances, May 6 - 10, 2015. ZORBA! will be directed by Walter Bobbie (Chicago) and choreographed by Josh Rhodes (Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella) with musical direction by Rob Berman. ZORBA! is the final production of New York City Center's 2015 Encores! season. BroadwayWorld was on hand for the rehearsal yesterday, where we caught up with the show's stars, and caught an inside look at a performance preview!

The Zorba! cast includes Adam Chanler-Berat (Peter and the Starcatcher), Robert Cuccioli (Jekyll and Hyde),Elizabeth A. Davis (Once), Santino Fontana (Act One), Marin Mazzie (Bullets Over Broadway), Robert Montano(Fabulation), John Turturro (Quiz Show), Carlos Valdes (The Flash) and Zoë Wanamaker (Electra) with Enrique Acevedo, Yusef Bulos, Laura D'Andre, Sean Ewing, Richard Gatta, Evangelia Kingsley, Nikka Graff Lanzarone,Vanessa Lemonides, Maria-Christina Oliveras, Michelle Peterson, David Scott Purdy,Waldemar Quinones-Villanueva,Matthew Rossoff, Rommy Sandhu, Gavriel Savit, Allysa Shorte, Evan D. Siegel, Joseph J. Simeone, Alex Syiek,Nicholas Ward and James Zannelli.

Zorba! is Joseph Stein, John Kander and Fred Ebb's galvanic re-imagining of Nikos Kazantzakis's best-selling tale of Zorba (John Turturro), a larger than life Greek jack-of-all-trades who "lives every day as if it will be his last" and his friendship with Nikos (Santino Fontana), a young American student. Life becomes complicated when the men become involved with two women: Zorba with the aging innkeeper Madame Hortense (Zoë Wanamaker) and Nikos with a beautiful widow (Elizabeth A. Davis). Commenting on the story is a Greek chorus-like group, led by The Leader (Marin Mazzie), who begins the play by explaining exactly what "Life Is."

Zorba! has a book by Joseph Stein, music by John Kander and lyrics by Fred Ebb. It was adapted from Zorba the Greek by Nikos Kazantzakis. The original production starred Herschel Bernardi and Maria Karnilova and was directed by Harold Prince. It opened at the Imperial Theater on November 16, 1968 and ran for 305 performances. Songs include "Life Is" and "Only Love."