Take Me Along, Carmelina, Plain & Fancy Are Mufti Musicals

The York Theatre Company has announced a new season of its 'Musicals in Mufti' series -- the York's acclaimed series of musical theatre gems in staged concert performances. Take Me Along will play on October 13th, 14th and 15th. Carmelina will play on October 20th, 21st and 22nd.  Plain and Fancy will play on October 27, 28 and 29.   All three musicals feature books co-written by Joseph Stein.
 
Based on Eugene O'Neill's sole comedy, Ah, Wilderness!, Take Me Along features music and lyrics by Bob Merrill, with a book by Stein and Robert Russell.  Originally produced by David Merrick, the show opened October, 22nd 1959 at the Sam S. Shubert Theatre and closed December 17th 1960, after 448 performances.
 
Michael Montel will direct the York concert production.  "Take Me Along takes place in Centerville, Connecticut, in 1906 and its story begins with a triumph in journalism. Nat Miller, publisher of the Centerville Globe, has won a new fire engine for the town and its citizens celebrate its purchase by cheering him. Somewhat overcome by the honor, Nat wonders if he is truly as great as the people claim. His wife Essie, his sister Lily and the rest of his family insist, over his objections that he is. But his pride is tarnished when one of his advertisers condemns him because of the seductive and romantic poetry that his son has been reading to the advertiser's daughter. Amidst all this is the story of the ne'er-do-well brother-in-law who never met a boss nor a booze he could tolerate."

Carmelina, based on the film Buona Sera, Mrs. Campbell, features a scores by Burton Lane and Alan Jay Lerner with a bok by Lerner and Stein (additional lyrics are by Barry Harman).  The show opened April 8th,  1979 at the St. James Theatre, New York and closed on April 21st, 1979 after a run of 17 performances.
 
Carmelina will be directed by Michael Leeds. "The story takes place in the small Italian village of San Forino, about eighteen years after the end of World War II. Carmelina, the central character, is an attractive, highly respected lady, the mother of a lovely 17 year old daughter, Gia. The villagers know her as the widow of an American soldier, who had heroically died in battle, and whose family continues to support her and her daughter. But Carmelina harbours a painful secret."
 
Plain and Fancy features music by Albert Hague, lyrics by Arnold B. Horwitt, and a book by Stein and Will Glickman.  It opened at the Mark Hellinger Theatre on Jan. 27th, 1955 for a run of 461 performances.
 
"Dan King and his girl, Ruth Winters, are sophisticated New Yorkers lost in the heart of Amish Pennsylvania to settle a piece of property owned by Dan's family. Dan has inherited land and has agreed to sell it to Papa Yoder for a wedding gift to his daughter, Katie, and her intended, Ezra. While there, they become involved with the local villagers.  Hilda Miller, a spunky Amish maiden, falls for Dan and misinterprets his kind words as words of love. The Amish men tease Ezra about marrying Katie.  Ezra's brother Peter, banished from the community for fighting, has returned. He and Katie were childhood sweethearts, and the feelings are very much alive. Dan tries to intercede for the lovers, but stubborn Papa Yoder reminds him that he is a guest in a different way of life.  Their adventurous encounters bring Dan and Ruth closer together as they return to New York."     

In addition to Take Me Along, Carmelina and Plain and Fancy, Stein's credits as a book-writer (either alone or with a collaborator) include Rags, Zorba, So Long, 174th Street, Juno, Mr. Wonderful, and most famously, Fiddler on the Roof.
 
For more information, please visit www.yorktheatre.org.  All three concerts will be performed at Saint Peter's Theatre, on 54th Street just east of Lexington.