Encores! Announces Complete 2006 Season - Kismet, 70, Girls, 70 and Of Thee I Sing

New York City Center (Arlene Shuler, President & CEO) will present the 13th season of New York City Center Encores! Great American Musicals In Concert®, opening February 9 with Kismet starring Brian Stokes Mitchell and Marin Mazzie, followed by the Kander and Ebb musical 70, Girls, 70. George and Ira Gershwin's Of Thee I Sing will end the season, playing May 11 - 14.

Kismet, with a book by Charles Lederer and Luther Davis, founded on a play by Edward Knoblock, music and lyrics by Robert Wright and George Forrest from themes of A. Borodin, ran on Broadway from 1953-1955, winning six Tony Awards. Set in exotic Baghdad, it is an Arabian-night-style comedy with a lush, romantic score that includes "Stranger in Paradise." Lonny Price directs; the production will run February 9 -12.

70, Girls, 70, with a book by Fred Ebb and Norman L. Martin, music by John Kander and lyrics by Fred Ebb, based on the play entitled Breath of Spring by Peter Coke, adapted by Joe Masteroff, opened on Broadway in 1971. 70, Girls, 70 is the story of a group of senior citizens who become a band of robbers, stealing fur coats from the rich. The story is presented as a show within a show, in which performers step out of character and play themselves as actors in a Broadway show. Musical numbers include "Coffee in a Cardboard Cup, "Yes," and "Broadway, My Street." 70, Girls, 70 will run March 30 -April 2.

Of Thee I Sing, with music by George Gershwin, lyrics by Ira Gershwin and book by George S. Kaufman and Morris Ryskind, opened on Broadway in 1931, and was the first Broadway musical to win a Pulitzer Prize for Drama. The play opens in an election year, as the National Party campaigns for their presidential nominee, John P. Wintergreen, who is running on a platform based on love and wins by a landslide. Musical numbers include "Love is Sweeping the Country," "Who Cares?" and "Of Thee I Sing (Baby)."

NEW YORK City Center ENCORES! (Jack Viertel, Artistic Director; Paul Gemignani, Music Director) has, since 1994, celebrated the rarely-heard works of America's most important composers and lyricists. Conceived as "concert versions," each ENCORES! season gives three scores the chance to be heard as originally intended by their creators. Over the years, ENCORES! has presented the works of the Gershwins, Rodgers and Hart, Rodgers and Hammerstein, Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, Kurt Weill, Bock and Harnick, Burt Bacharach, Kander and Ebb, Comden and Green, and many more. The program is the recipient of a special 2000 Tony® Honor for Excellence in the Theatre, as well as a New York Drama Critics Circle Award, Outer Critics Circle Award, Lucille Lortel Award and Jujamcyn Theaters Award.

The 2006 season marks Paul Gemignani's debut as Encores! Music Director. One of Broadway's most respected musical directors, Gemignani worked as a Broadway pit musician before becoming replacement musical director of Stephen Sondheim's Follies (1971). Gemignani became closely identified with Sondheim's musicals, serving as Music Director on Pacific Overtures, Side by Side by Sondheim, Sweeney Todd, Merrily We Roll Along, Sunday in the Park with George, Into the Woods and Passion. He also served in that capacity for such memorable hits as On the Twentieth Century, Evita, Crazy For You and the acclaimed revival of Kiss Me Kate. To date, Gemignani has served as conductor for more than 35 Broadway productions, receiving three Grammy nominations along the way. In 2001, he was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Tony Award.

Lead sponsorship for the NEW YORK City Center ENCORES! 2006 season is provided by NEWMAN'S OWN. Newman's Own is a premium food company headquartered in Westport, CT. Paul Newman donates all after-tax profits from the sale of Newman's Own products to educational and charitable causes. Since 1982, he has donated more than $125 million to over 2,000 charities. Newman's Own all natural line of products includes popcorn, salsa, lemonade, salad dressing, pasta sauce, and steak sauce.

Tickets for the 2006 ENCORES! season are available 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. Tickets for the Orchestra, Grand Tier and Mid-Mezzanine are $90, tickets for the Rear Mezzanine and Front Gallery are $50, tickets for the Rear Gallery are $25.

NEW YORK City Center 2006 ENCORES! SEASON

KISMET (February 9 - 12, 2006)
Opened on Broadway at the Ziegfeld Theatre on December 3, 1953.
Winner, Six Tony Awards including Best Production.
Music and Lyrics by Robert Wright and George Forrest
From themes of A. Borodin
Lyrics by Robert Wright and George Forrest
Book by Charles Lederer and Luther Davis
Founded on a play by Edward Knoblock
Directed by Lonny Price
Starring Brian Stokes Mitchell and Marin Mazzie

70 GIRLS, 70 (March 30 - April 2, 2006)
Opened on Broadway at the Broadhurst Theatre on April 15, 1971.
Music by John Kander
Lyrics by Fred Ebb
Book by Fred Ebb and Norman L. Martin
Based on the play entitled Breath of Spring by Peter Coke
Book Adapted by Joe Masteroff

OF THEE I Sing (May 11 - 14, 2006)
Opened on Broadway at the Music Box Theatre on December 26, 1931.
Winner, Pulitzer-Prize for Drama
Music by George Gershwin
Lyrics by Ira Gershwin
Book by George S. Kaufman and Morris Ryskind