TV: Next Up at Encores! Off-Center... Preview Menken & Ashman's First Musical, GOD BLESS YOU, MR. ROSEWATER

Next up at Encores! Off-Center is Kurt Vonnegut's God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater. The first musical written by the blockbuster team of Howard Ashman and Alan Menken, the Off-Center production will star Skylar Astin, Derrick Baskin, Jeff Blumenkrantz, Nick Choksi, Eddie Cooper, Kevin Del Aguila, Santino Fontana, Clark Johnson, James Earl Jones, Rebecca Naomi Jones, Kevin Ligon, Marla Louissaint, Liz McCartney, Bonnie Milligan, Brynn O'Malley, and Kate Wetherhead.

The 1979 musical tells the story of Eliot Rosewater (Santino Fontana), a millionaire who drunkenly decides to blow his fortune on the inhabitants of an impoverished town after being inspired by the utopian vision of novelist Kilgore Trout (James Earl Jones). But there are forces who want to put the kibosh on Eliot's philanthropy-like Norman Mushari (Skylar Astin), a lawyer plotting to have Eliot declared insane. With an irresistible crazy-quilt score that volleys between pop, ragtime, Gilbert & Sullivan, and proto-Disney ballads, Kurt Vonnegut's God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater deserves to be part of our world again. The Encores! Off-Center production will feature orchestrations by Danny Troob, which will be heard for the first time. Kurt Vonnegut's God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater will run for five performances at City Center from July 27-30.

Tickets starting at $25 can be purchased online at NYCityCenter.org, by calling CityTix at 212.581.1212, or in person at the City Center Box Office. New York City Center is located at 131 West 55th Street between 6th and 7th Avenues.

The cast gave a special sneak peek today, and you can check out interviews with the full gang and a preview of Astin in action below!