Lili Cooper, Christine Ebersole, Julia Murney, and More Will Lead NINE: IN CONCERT

Transport Group has announced that Klea Blackhurst (Party Face), Lilli Cooper (Encores' Oliver), Christine Ebersole (Grey Gardens), Jessica Fontana (Cinderella), Julia Murney (The Wild Party), Alexandra Silber (Fiddler on the Roof), Emily Skinner (New York, New York), Elizabeth Stanley (Jagged Little Pill), Jessica Vosk (Wicked), and Vanessa Williams (POTUS) will join Santino Fontana in Nine: In Concert, the next installment in the company's Anne L. Bernstein Concert Series, on Monday, June 26, 2023, at 8pm in Merkin Hall at Kaufman Music Center, 129 West 67 Street.

 

The cast also includes Benjamin Pajak (Encores' Oliver) who plays Young Guido, joined by Ethan Joseph (Tina), Matthew Lamb (NYTW's Merrily We Roll Along), and Jayden Theophile (Caroline, or Change) as the Young Boys.

 

The evening features a vocal ensemble, a key part of Nine composer/lyricist Maury Yeston's singular score, including Julia Adams, Erin Anderson, Gina Naomi Baez, Victoria Baroni, Elizabeth Brady, Brianna Brice, Katie Cox, McKenzie Custin, Madison Garcia, Sarah Killough, Gaby Mank, Alison McCartan, Emily Nies, Aubrie-Mei Rubel, Maureen Taylor, Stephanie Toups, Sophia Tzougros, and Katrina Wischusen.

 

Maury Yeston and original Broadway cast member Karen Akers, who was nominated for a Tony Award for her performance as Luisa Contini, will take part in a Q&A immediately following the concert.

 

As previously announced, the concert features Tony Award-winner Santino Fontana (Tootsie, Cinderella) who stars as Guido, the role created by Raul Julia, as well as a 25-piece orchestra performing the original orchestrations, interspersed with backstage stories and theatre lore about the original Broadway production.  Transport Group Artistic Director Jack Cummings III directs the evening, which is written by Hannah Oren with musical direction by Joey Chancey who conducts the orchestra.

 

Nine features a book by Arthur Kopit, music and lyrics by Maury Yeston, and was adapted from the Italian by Mario Fratti.  Tommy Tune directed the Tony-winning Best Musical, which opened at Broadway's 46th Street Theatre in 1982 and ran for 748 performances.

 

Previous presentations in Transport Group's Anne L. Bernstein Concert Series include Rodgers & Hammerstein: A Broadway Celebration; Sweet Charity; Promises, Promises; Man of La Mancha; Baby; Once Upon a Mattress; The Music Man; Peter Pan; and A Man of No Importance.

 

Transport Group (Jack Cummings III, artistic director; Denise Dickens, executive director) is an off-Broadway theatre company whose work has been called "storytelling at its purest" by The New York Times, "at once faithful and irreverent." Since the company was founded in 2001 by Jack Cummings III and Robyn Hussa, Transport Group has produced 33 shows: 17 new works and 16 revivals, including three New York premieres and six commissioned works. The company has received a special New York Drama Critics' Circle Award, three Drama Desk Awards including a special one "for its breadth of vision and its presentation of challenging productions," nine Obie Awards, an Outer Critics Circle Award, three Off-Broadway Alliance Awards, and a Dramatists Guild Award. In addition, Transport Group's productions have received 46 Drama Desk Award nominations, eight Drama League Award nominations, four Lucille Lortel Award nominations, six Outer Critics Circle Award nominations, nine American Theatre Wing Design Award nominations, nine Off-Broadway Alliance Award nominations, four Audelco Award nominations, and a Tony Award nomination.

 

Nine: In Concert will be performed Monday, June 26, 2023, at 8pm in Merkin Hall at Kaufman Music Center, 129 West 67 Street. Tickets, which are on sale, start at $125; the VIP ticket package includes a post-show reception. Proceeds from the evening support the Joanna and Steven Sanders New Works Program, Transport Group's developmental arm that sees projects through from commission to full production. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit www.transportgroup.org or phone 212-564-0333.