Encores! IRMA LA DOUCE Opens Tonight at New York City Center

The New York City Center Encores! production of Irma La Douce, featuring Jennifer Bowles, Rob McClure, andMalcolm Gets will run for seven performances, beginning tonight, May 7 and playing through May 11, 2014. Irma La Douce will be directed by John Doyle and choreographed by Chase Brock, with music direction by Rob Berman.

The complete cast includes Sam Bolen,Bowles, Ben Crawford, Stephen DeRosa, Gets, Zachary James, Ken Krugman, McClure and Chris Sullivan with Joseph Medeiros, Joseph Simeone, Manuel Stark and Caleb Teicher.

Encores! breaks the mold with its first musical not written on American soil with Irma La Douce, the tale of a Parisian lady of the evening (Bowles) and the law student (McClure) who falls in love with her. It has music by Marguerite Monnot and English book and lyrics by Julian More, David Heneker and Monty Norman, with original book and lyrics by Alexandre Breffort.

After a three-year run in Paris, an English-language version of Irma La Douce, directed by Peter Brook, enjoyed tremendous success first in London and then on Broadway. It opened at the Plymouth Theatre on September 29, 1960 and ran for 524 performances. The score produced one standard, "Our Language of Love," and also features "The Valse Millieu" and "Dis Donc."

Photo Credit: Joan Marcus