Kelli O'Hara and Will Chase will star in Bells Are Ringing, the first Encores! production of the New York City Center season, running November 18-21 at City Center. The cast also features Dylan Baker, Bobby Cannavale, Judy Kaye, Brad Oscar and David Pittu. Bells Are Ringing, directed and choreographed by Kathleen Marshall with music direction by Rob Berman, has music by Jule Styne and book and lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green.
In Bells Are Ringing, a lonely young woman can't help getting involved in the lives of her answering service clients. When she falls for a man she has met only by voice, classic 1950s mayhem ensues. The score, by turns brassy, sweet and romantic, includes "Just in Time," "The Party's Over," "I Met a Girl," "Long Before I Knew You" and a fistful of other great tunes from one of Broadway's greatest tunesmiths. The original production opened at the Shubert Theater on November 29, 1956, and played a total of 924 performances. The entire original production was directed by Jerome Robbins; dance and musical numbers of the original production were staged by Jerome Robbins and Bob Fosse. The show won Tony awards for its stars Judy Holliday and Sydney Chaplin.
The cast of Bells Are Ringing includes Dylan Baker, Bobby Cannavale, Will Chase, Judy Kaye, Kelli O'Hara, Brad Oscar, David Pittu, Danny Rutigliano, Jeffrey Schecter and John C. Vennema.
Kelli O'Hara (Ella Peterson) received her third Tony nomination for her portrayal of Nellie Forbush in South Pacific at Lincoln Center Theater. Ms. O'Hara's previous Broadway credits include The Pajama Game (Tony nomination) with Harry Connick, Jr., The Light in the Piazza (Tony nomination), Follies, Sweet Smell of Success, Jekyll & Hyde and Dracula. She has appeared as Eliza Doolittle in the New York Philharmonic production of My Fair Lady, with the New York Pops at Carnegie Hall, and at a sold-out run at Cafeì Carlyle.
Will Chase (Jeffrey Moss) can currently be seen on Broadway in Billy Elliot. His previous Broadway credits include The Story of My Life, High Fidelity, Lennon, The Full Monty, Aida, Miss Saigon, and as Roger in the final cast and filmed stage version of Rent. He was nominated for a Helen Hayes Award for his performance in the Signature Theatre's Kiss of the Spider Woman and has been nominated three times for Chicago's Jeff Award.
Dylan Baker (Inspector Barnes) has appeared on Broadway in God of Carnage, the original production of La Bête (Tony nomination), November, Mauritius and Eastern Standard. His many Off-Broadway credits include Not About Heroes (Obie Award), Sea of Tranquility, Homebody/Kabul, The Common Pursuit and Tartuffe. His film credits include Secretariat, Road to Perdition, Happiness, Revolutionary Road, Spider-Man 2, Spider-Man 3, and Planes, Trains and Automobiles.
Bobby Cannavale (Blake Barton) was nominated for a Tony Award for his role in Mauritius and has been seen in New York in Trust, Hurly Burly, The Gingerbread House and others. He has appeared in the films Night Falls on Manhattan, Snakes on a Plane, The Bone Collector, The Guru,, Shall We Dance? and Romance & Cigarettes. He has had recurring television roles on "Will & Grace" (Emmy Award), "Third Watch," "100 Centre Street" and "Ally McBeal."
Judy Kaye (Sue Summers) won the Tony Award for her performance as Carlotta in The Phantom of the Opera and was nominated for her roles in Mamma Mia! and Souvenir. She also appeared on Broadway in Ragtime, On the Twentieth Century, Sweeney Todd and Grease! Ms. Kaye has appeared in theaters and opera houses across the country as Mama Rose in Gypsy, Pistache in Can-Can, Aldonza in Man of La Mancha, Mrs. Lovett in Sweeney Todd, Annie in Annie Get Your Gun, Lucy Lockit in The Beggar's Opera and Sally in Follies. She last appeared at City Center in the Encores! production of Face the Music.
Brad Oscar (Dr. Kitchell) was nominated for the Tony Award for his role as Nazi playwright Franz Liebkind in The Producers and subsequently took over the lead role of Max Bialystock on Broadway and in Los Angeles. His other Broadway credits include Spamalot, Jekyll & Hyde and Aspects of Love. He has appeared at the Arena Stage as the Devil in Damn Yankees and as the M.C. in Cabaret, and at the Asolo Repertory Theatre in the title role of Barnum. Mr. Oscar was last seen at City Center in the Encores! production of Do Re Mi.
Davie Pittu (Sandor Prantz) has been nominated for Tony awards for his performances in LoveMusik and Is He Dead?. In 2008, he wrote, co-directed, and starred in What's That Smell: The Music of Jacob Sterling, which received an Outer Critics Circle nomination for Best Off-Broadway Musical. He has also been seen in The Coast of Utopia, TheTenth Man, Twelfth Night and Equivocation. David was last seen at City Center in the Encores! production of Of Thee I Sing.
Danny Rutigliano (Francis) was recently seen in New York in Cirque du Soleil's Banana Shpeel. He originated the role of Timon in the L.A. production of The Lion King, for which he received the Ovation Award, and performed the role in the Broadway production. His television credits include "Without a Trace," "Law & Order" and "The Brothers Garcia." His film credits include Goodfellas, The Producers and the voice of Timothy Mouse in Dumbo 2.
Jeffrey Schecter (Carl) appeared on Broadway in A Chorus Line¸ The Pajama Game, Wonderful Town, Guys and Dolls and Beauty and the Beast, and at the Old Globe in San Diego in the world premiere of Robin and the Seven Hoods. He was seen as Ozzie in On the Town at the Paper Mill Playhouse.
John C. Vennema (Larry Hastings) appeared on Broadway in The Cripple Of Inishman, Arthur Miller's The Ride Down Mt. Morgan, The Elephant Man, The Royal Family, Otherwise Engaged and Racing Demon. His many Off-Broadway credits include Prisoner of the Crown, The Skin Game, Right Kind Of People and House and Garden.
Kathleen Marshall (Director and Choreographer) returns to Encores!, where she has directed and choreographed Applause, Carnival, Hair and Babes In Arms, among others, and served as artistic director for four seasons. Her Broadway credits include The Pajama Game; Wonderful Town; Grease; Boeing, Boeing; Little Shop of Horrors; Follies; Seussical; Kiss Me, Kate; Ring Round the Moon; 1776 and Swinging on a Star. For ABC/Disney, she directed and choreographed "Once Upon a Mattress" and choreographed "The Music Man" (Emmy nomination). She has received two Tony awards, two Drama Desk awards and two Outer Critics Circle awards.
Rob Berman (Music Director) is in his fourth season as music director of Encores!, where he has conducted Anyone Can Whistle, Fanny, Finian's Rainbow, Music in the Air, Damn Yankees, Applause and Stairway to Paradise, as well as last season's gala concert celebrating Stephen Sondheim. Broadway conducting credits include Finian's Rainbow, Irving Berlin's White Christmas, The Pajama Game, The Apple Tree and Wonderful Town, among others. Mr. Berman is a two-time Emmy nominee for his work as music director of the Kennedy Center Honors, and he won a Helen Hayes Award for Best Musical Direction for his work on The Kennedy Center's production of Sunday in the Park With George. Recently, he was music director for A Broadway Celebration: In Performance at the White House.
Bells Are Ringing has been generously supported by The Joseph S. and Diane H. Steinberg Charitable Trust and Roz and Jerry Meyer.
The 2010-11 Encores! season is made possible, in part, by the Stephanie and Fred Shuman Fund for Encores!
City Center gratefully acknowledges lead support from American Express, Stacey and Eric Mindich and the Newman's Own Foundation.
New York City Center Encores! (Jack Viertel, Artistic Director; Rob Berman, 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, Stephen Sondheim, Burt Bacharach, Kander and Ebb, Comden and Green, and many others. The program is the recipient of a special 2000 Tony Honor for Excellence in the Theatre, as well as an Outer Critics Circle Award, Lucille Lortel Award and Jujamcyn Theaters Award.
NEW YORK CITY CENTER (Arlene Shuler, President & CEO) has played a defining role in the cultural life of the city for more than 60 years. It was Manhattan's first performing arts center, dedicated by Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia in 1943 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, Paul Taylor Dance Company and 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, now in its 18th season, has been hailed as "one of the very best reasons to be alive in New York." Dance has been integral to the theater's mission from the start, and dance programs, including the annual Fall for Dance Festival and a partnership with London's Sadler's Wells Theatre, remain central to City Center's identity. City Center is dedicated to providing educational opportunities to New York City students and teachers with 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.
Bells Are Ringing plays Thursday, November 18 and Friday, November 19 at 8 p.m., Saturday, November 20 at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m., and Sunday, November 21 at 6:30 p.m. Tickets for Encores! 2010-11 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 $100; tickets for the Rear Mezzanine and Front Gallery are $50; tickets for the Rear Gallery are $25.
.
