Warren Carlyle To Direct Barry Manilow Musical HARMONY; Full Creative Team Announced

Today National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene announced the Tony Award-winning creative team for the New York debut of the acclaimed musical Harmony by the legendary Barry Manilow and his longtime collaborator Bruce Sussman.

The musical tells the true story of the Comedian Harmonists, an ensemble of six talented young men in 1920s Germany who took the world by storm with their signature blend of sophisticated close harmonies and uproarious stage antics, until their inclusion of Jewish singers put them on a collision course with history.

Directing and choreographing Harmony will be Tony Award winner and Emmy nominated Warren Carlyle, who won a 2014 Tony Award for his choreography for After Midnight, for which he also received a direction nomination, and was nominated for a 2019 Tony for choreography for the revival of Kiss Me Kate. His other Broadway credits include Hello, Dolly!, She Loves Me, On the Twentieth Century, The Mystery of Edwin Drood. A Christmas Story, and Chaplin, and he directed and choreographed Hugh Jackman: Back on Broadway and did the same for Hugh Jackman's 2019 World Tour.

The creative team includes: John O'Neill, Musical Director (A Chorus Line, Cabaret); Beowulf Boritt, Set Design (Act One (Tony Award), Come From Away); Linda Cho, Costume Design (A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder (Tony Award)); Jules Fisher + Peggy Eisenhauer, Lighting Design (Shuffle Along, Gary, The Iceman Cometh); Dan Moses Schreier, Sound Design (Gary, The Iceman Cometh, A Gentleman's Guide to Love & Murder); casting by Jamibeth Margolis, CSA (Fiddler on the Roof in Yiddish, Cleveland Musical Theatre, Sistas: The Musical (Off Broadway).

Serving as Producer is Ken Davenport, who most recently won a Tony for Best Revival of a Musical for Once on This Island and a Tony for Best Musical for Kinky Boots, and received Tony nominations for Spring Awakening (Revival of a Musical), The Visit (Musical), and You're Welcome America (Special Theatrical Event).

"I'm thrilled to be directing Harmony and helping bring this show to New York. It's an important message and it could not have found a better home to start a New York run than the National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene at the Museum of Jewish Heritage - A Living Memorial to the Holocaust," Warren Carlyle said.

"National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene is excited to bring Harmony to New York City," said Zalmen Mlotek, Artistic Director of NYTF. "Harmony speaks to the human spirit in the face of adversity and atrocity. The story of the Comedian Harmonists, whose soaring careers were cut short due to anti-Semitism, reflects the spiritual resistance that was necessary to get through one of the most dehumanizing periods in history. It's important that their story about the human spirit during the darkest of times be told. Barry Manilow and Bruce Sussman have created a show that speaks to the best and worst of humanity."

"Harmony is moving full-steam ahead with the addition of this exceptional creative team, led by the supremely talented Warren Carlyle, who will bring our labor of love to life as a testament to the triumph of the human spirit," Barry Manilow and Bruce Sussman said.

Harmony is part of NYTF's season of "Spiritual Resistance," which features artistic and theatrical works that explore themes of struggle against oppression. The programming - which includes The Sorceress: A Yiddish Musical Fantasy, a fairytale-like story of a pure-hearted young woman who triumphs over her tormentors, a scheming stepmother, and a wicked witch - provides artistic expression concurrent with the exhibition Auschwitz: Not long ago. Not far away. being presented at the Museum of Jewish Heritage - A Living Memorial to the Holocaust.

Fresh from the stellar success of Fiddler on the Roof in Yiddish, which won multiple honors including a 2019 Drama Desk Award, NYTF will present Harmony in English, with previews beginning February 11 and the production running from March 4-29, 2020 at the Museum of Jewish Heritage - A Living Memorial to the Holocaust, Edmond J. Safra Plaza, 36 Battery Place, NYC.

For tickets to Harmony, and other performances in NYTF's season of "Spiritual Resistance," visit NYTF.org or call 866-811-4111. For group sales and membership call 212-213-2120 Ext. 204.