Douglas Sills Joins Tommy Tune, Colin Donnell, Jennifer Laura Thompson & More in Encores! LADY, BE GOOD

Douglas Sills has joined the cast of George and Ira Gershwin's Lady, Be Good, joining previously announced cast members Tommy Tune, Colin Donnell, Danny Gardner, Jeff Hiller, Erin Mackey, Patti Murin, Richard Poe, Jennifer Laura Thompson and Kirsten Wyatt. The opening production of New York City Center's 2015Encores! season, directed by Mark Brokaw and choreographed by Randy Skinner, will run for seven performances, February 4 - 8, 2015. Founding Encores! Music Director Rob Fisher will return as Guest Music Director and has supervised the restoration of the Gershwins' original score.

Lady, Be Good tells the story of a penniless brother (Danny Gardner) and sister (Patti Murin) who crash a garden party in hopes of some quick nourishment. They resolve to marry for money, but love gets in the way, as it usually does. Before true love wins out, they encounter Mexican gangsters, crooked lawyers, wealthy socialites, and a song-and-dance man with fascinating rhythm (Tommy Tune).

Douglas Sills recently starred as Alan Swann in My Favorite Year at the York Theatre Company, and as the title role in Mr. Maggio's Christmas Carol, a one-night benefit concert for The Actors Fund. Douglas made his Broadway debut as Percy in The Scarlet Pimpernel, earning Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle nominations as well as a Theatre World Award for his performance, and portrayed Orin Scrivello D.D.S. in Little Shop of Horrors. He starred at the Kennedy Center in A Little Night Music and Mack and Mabel; and in the national tours of The Adams Family, The Scarlet Pimpernel, The Secret Garden and Into the Woods; and the Los Angeles premiere of Chess. Sills appeared in Moonlight and Magnolias at Manhattan Theatre Club and in numerous regional theater productions. His previous Encores! credits include Carnival and Music in the Air.

The 2015 Encores! season is made possible, in part, by Stacey and Eric Mindich, Nathalie and Pablo Salame, The Shubert Foundation, and the Stephanie and Fred Shuman Fund for Encores!. Support for Lady, Be Good is generously provided by the Joseph S. and Diane H. Steinberg Charitable Trust, the Ira and Leonore Gershwin Philanthropic Fund, and Roz and Jerry Meyer. The score restoration for Lady, Be Good is made possible by The Joseph S. and Diane H. Steinberg Broadway Musical Restoration Fund.

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 is dedicated to providing educational opportunities to New York City students and teachers through programs such as Encores! In Schools and the Young People's Dance Series. Special workshops cater to families, seniors, and other groups, while events such as the Fall for Dance DanceTalk series offer learning opportunities to the general public. In October 2011, City Center completed an extensive renovation project to revitalize and modernize its historic theater.

Lady, Be Good runs February 4- 8, 2015 according to the following schedule: Wednesday and Thursday at 7:30 pm, Friday at 8 pm, Saturday at 2 and 8 pm, and Sunday and 2 and 7 pm. Tickets start at $30 and can be purchased at the New York City Center Box Office (West 55th Street between 6th and 7th Avenues), through CityTix® at 212-581-1212, or online at www.NYCityCenter.org.