Yet more performers have climbed aboard the title train in the upcoming Actors' Fund benefit concert of On the Twentieth Century, which will glide through the New Amsterdam Theatre on September 26th.
On The Twentieth Century,
which is considered by some musical theatre scholars to be the last
truly classic musical comedy, boasts a screwball-operetta score by Cy
Coleman, Betty Comden and Adolph Green; Comden and Green based their
book on the original play by Bruce Millholland and on Ben Hecht's and Charles MacArthur's screenplay of the classic 1934 film Twentieth Century (which
starred a self-parodic John Barrymore and Carole Lombard). The original
production, which opened on February 19th, 1978 at the St. James
Theatre, starred Madeline Kahn, John Cullum and Kevin Kline. The two
actors would win Tonys and Kahn was nominated; the musical also picked
up Tonys for its score, book and for Robin Wagner's scenic design,
which famously featured a moving art deco train. Harold Prince was also
nominated for directing the musical, which ran for 449 performances.Peter Flynn will helm the Actors' Fund's staging of On the Twentieth Century; it
will be choreographed by Denis Jones and Tim Pinckney will take care of
the concert adaptation. As he did for the preceding Actors' Fund
concerts (such as Funny Girl, Chess and Dreamgirls),
Seth Rudetsky will serve as the Artistic Producer in addition to
handling the musical direction. The concert will feature sets by Paul
Weimer, costumes by
Rob Bevenger, lighting by Jeff Croiter and sound by Scott Stauffer. A 2004 Roundabout revival of the play Twentieth Century starred Anne Heche as Lily and Alec Baldwin as Oscar.
Tickets for On the Twentieth Century range in price from $75 to $2,500 and can be purchased by calling (212) 221-7300, ext. 133 or visiting www.actorsfund.org.
