Victoria Clark, John Hillner & Andy Karl Team Up for 'BABY' Reading at CAP 21, 11/16

Tony Award winner Victoria Clark (the Light in the Piazza), will team up with Broadway vets John Hillner (La Cage) and Andy Karl (9 to 5) for a staged reading of the 1983 Maltby and Shire musical Baby on November 16 at The Shop at CAP 21.  The reading is part of CAP 21's regular Monday night Classic Concert Series. 

Baby, the Drama-Desk Award-winning and Tony-Nominated musical, originally opened on Broadway in 1983 at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre. Now, 26 years later, CAP21 presents Baby as part of its on-going Classics Concert Series. Following the lives of three different couples expecting a child, the musical features music by David Shire, lyrics by Richard Maltby, and book by Sybille Pearson - based on a story developed with Susan Yankowitz.

Richard Matlby, Jr., Baby's Tony-winning lyricist and original director on Broadway, is directing the 7:30pm presentation, which is sold out.  Kevin Stites will musical direct.

Additional principle cast members include Kathy Voytko (The Pirate Queen), Jenny Fellner (Pal Joey) and Nick Blaemire (Cry-Baby), while the ensemble will be rounded out by Cathryn Basile, Rebecca Eichenberger, Kate Fitzgibbons, Rita Harvey, MaryAnn Hu, Scott Mikita, Dan Petrotta, Matthew Stocke and Dennis Stowe.

Baby tells the story of three couples, each newly expecting a child, who have different but familiar reactions. Liz and Danny are university juniors who have just moved in together. Athletic Pam and her husband, Nick, a sports instructor, have had some trouble conceiving. Arlene, already the mother of three grown daughters, is unsure of what to do, contemplating abortion while her husband Alan is thrilled with the thought of a new baby. Throughout the show, these characters experience the emotional stresses and triumphs, the desperate lows and the comic highs, that accompany the anticipation and arrival of a baby.

To be placed on the waiting list for the reading, call (212) 807-0202. The Shop is located at 18 West 18th Street, 6th floor in Manhattan. For more information on Baby and additional upcoming readings at CAP 21, click here or visit www.cap21.org.

The Classic Concert Series is supported by public funds from the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York State Council on the Arts, and grants from the American Theatre Wing, Axe-Houghton Foundation, Barbara Bell Cumming Foundation, the Dramatists Guild Fund, Friars Foundation, the Edith Meiser Foundation, The Dorothy Strelsin Foundation, and the Lynne Sherwood Foundation.

CAP21's professional theatre company began in 1994 with the Blackjacks Festival which showcased artists and new work to the theatre community. This Festival solidified CAP21 as a producer and launched its new works development wing which now includes readings, workshops, and professional performances. After nine Festivals, it was decided to allocate resources and talent to fully produce pieces that were initiated at CAP21 for the public as the next logical step in the developmental process. The Monday Night Reading Series was launched to take an initial look at new work and present classic plays and musicals. The classics provide an opportunity for actors to learn some of the great pieces from the canon and audiences to hear the language and the music.

Since 1994, over 190 new musicals and plays by more than 230 writers have been presented to the public and the industry through readings and productions. CAP21 provides a forum for shows to go on to subsequent productions and twenty percent have transferred to venues in New York and nationwide such as The Public Theatre, Theatre for the New City, The Goodspeed Opera House, Trenton's Passage Theatre and LA's Tiffany Theatre.