VIDEO FLASHBACK: Ethel Waters Introduces 'Taking A Chance On Love' In CABIN IN THE SKY

As announced on BroadwayWorld, J. Bernard Calloway, Chuck Cooper, Marva Hicks, Carly Hughes, LaChanze, Norm Lewis, Forrest McClendon, and J.D. Webster will star in Vernon Duke and John Latouche's jazz-filled fable CABIN IN THE SKY, running for seven performances at City Center from February 10-14 as part of the famed ENCORES! series. The 1940 musical will be directed by Tony Award winner Ruben Santiago-Hudson with choreography by Camille A. Brown.

Opening on Broadway in 1940, close on the heels of the classic PORGY AND BESS, CABIN THE SKY comes from an era when more opportunities for black performers were opening up in musicals created by white people. Typical of its time, the plot was one of morality and redemption, involving a compulsive gambler who gets killed over a debt and is allowed six months to prove his worth and avoid eternal damnation.

The great Ethel Waters starred as his long-suffering wife, Petunia, the role that LaChanze will play for Encores! Three days before opening night, Duke handed Waters the music for "Taking A Chance On Love," to replace a solo number that wasn't landing well. The song is now an American Songbook standard and Waters got to preserve her performance in the musical's 1943 film version, accompanied by Eddie "Rochester" Anderson and dancer Bill Bailey.

The Encores! season will continue with a multi-ethnic production of Sherman Edwards' Tony Award-winning classic 1776 (Mar 30-Apr 3), directed by Garry Hynes, with guest music direction by Ben Whiteley and choreography byChris Bailey. The final production of the season, Richard Rodgers and Stephen Sondheim's 1965 musical Do I Hear a Waltz? (May 11-15), will be directed by Evan Cabnet, with musical direction by Encores! Music Director Rob Bermanand choreography by Chase Brock.