'BERLIN TO BROADWAY WITH KURT WEILL' Starts This Weekend at York Theatre Company

The York Theatre Company, dedicated to the development of new musicals and the preservation of musical gems from the past, presents the 1972 musical Berlin to Broadway with Kurt Weill: A Musical Voyage, music by Kurt Weill, text and format by Gene Lerner, lyrics by Maxwell Anderson, Marc Blitzstein, Bertolt Brecht, Jacques Deval, Michael Feingold, Ira Gershwin, Paul Green, Langston Hughes, Alan Jay Lerner, Ogden Nash, George Tabori, and Arnold Weinstein, the second of three shows in the Winter 2017 Musicals in Mufti Series.

A friendly reminder that performances begin Saturday afternoon, February 11, 2017 for 11-performances only through February 19, 2017 at the York Theatre Company at Saint Peter's (entrance on East 54th Street, just east of Lexington Avenue). Opening night is Sunday evening, February 12, 2017 at 7:00 p.m.

Directed by Pamela Hunt, and with music direction by Eric Svejcar, the 5-member cast will feature Karl Josef Co (The Unsinkable Molly Brown), Rachel de Benedet (Catch Me If You Can), Michael Halling (A Tale of Two Cities), Meghan Picerno (Candide at NYCO), and Brian Charles Rooney (The Threepenny Opera). Casting for the series is by Geoff Josselson.

The second show in the Winter 2017 Musicals in Mufti series, Berlin to Broadway with Kurt Weill: A Musical Voyage is a joyous and moving celebration of Kurt Weill, a cantor's son and one of the most extraordinary composers of the twentieth century. Weill's greatest theatre songs are presented in a fluid blend of music and story, spanning twenty eventful years, from Von Hindenburg and Hitler in Germany to Roosevelt and Truman in the U.S. Berlin to Broadway with KurtWeill originally opened at the Theatre de Lys (now the Lucille Lortel Theatre) on October 1, 1972 and ran 152 performances.

The York Theatre Company's acclaimed Musicals in Mufti series of musical theatre gems, performed in a simply-staged, book-in-hand concert format, celebrates its twenty-second historic year of shows from the past that deserve a second look. Mufti means "in street clothes, without the trappings associated with a full production."

Berlin to Broadway with Kurt Weill: A Musical Voyage plays the following 11-performance schedule-First Week: Saturday at 2:30 p.m. & 8:00 p.m., Sunday at 2:30 & 7:00 p.m.; Second Week: Wednesday at 7:00 p.m., Thursday 2:30 p.m. and 8:00 p.m., Friday at 8:00 p.m., Saturday at 2:30 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. and Sunday at 2:30 p.m.

The Winter 2017 series concludes with Dear World, book by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee, new version by David Thompson (based on an adaptation by Maurice Valency of the play The Madwoman of Chaillot by Jean Giraudoux), music and lyrics by Jerry Herman, starring six-time Emmy Award and Tony Award-winner Tyne Daly as Countess Aurelia. When a group of businessmen scheme to drill for oil in Paris, there is only one force in the world that can stop them: Countess Aurelia, the Madwoman of Chaillot. With the help of idealism, love, and poetry-not to mention two other madwomen, a local sewerman, and a pair of young lovers-the Countess fights to save Paris and the world from greed. With Dear World's opening on Broadway in 1969, Mr. Herman became the first composer-lyricist to have three productions simultaneously running on Broadway, and for her performance 2015 Oscar Hammerstein Honoree Angela Lansbury received the second of her five Tony Awards. Michael Montel directs, with music direction by Christopher McGovern. Performances begin Saturday afternoon, February 25, 2017 for a limited engagement through March 5, 2017.

For additional information, visit www.yorktheatre.org.

The York Theatre Company is the only theatre in New York City-and one of very few in the world-dedicated to developing and fully producing new musicals and preserving neglected, notable shows from the past. For over four decades, York's intimate, imaginative style of producing both original and classic musicals has resulted in critical acclaim and recognition from artists and audiences alike. Under the guidance of Producing Artistic Director James Morgan since 1997, the York has focused on new musicals in its Mainstage Series-most of them world, American, or New York premieres-by some of the field's most esteemed creators, and has also helped launch the careers of many talented new writers. Over 35 cast recordings from York Theatre Company productions are now available on CD, including its acclaimed revival of Closer Than Ever (2013 Off-Broadway Alliance Award for Best Revival); commercial transfers of such York premieres as The Musical of Musicals (The Musical!), Souvenir (Tony Award Nomination for actress Judy Kaye), and Jolson & Company, and revivals of Pacific Overtures and Sweeney Todd (four Tony Nominations including Best Revival) have all showcased the importance of the York and its programs. Recent hits have included Rothschild and Sons, Plaid Tidings and Cagney, currently playing to sold-out houses at the Westside Theatre starring Robert Creighton as James Cagney and the original York Cast.

Pictured: Karl Josef Co, Meghan Picerno, Michael Halling, Rachel de Benedet, Brian Charles Rooney. Photo courtesy of The York Theatre Company.