New York City Center Announces 16th Encores! Season

ON THE TOWN Opens Encores! Season  as part of city-wide Leonard Bernstein Festival followed by Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II's MUSIC IN THE AIR and  Burton Lane and E.Y. Harburg's  FINIAN'S RAINBOW . Season Begins November 19, 2008.
 
On The Town, the first Broadway musical written by Leonard Bernstein, Betty Comden and Adolph Green, with original choreography by Jerome Robbins, will open the 2008-2009 Encores! season as part of the city-wide Leonard Bernstein 90th Birthday Celebration sponsored by Carnegie Hall and the New York Philharmonic from September through December 2008.  As part of the Bernstein Festival, the Encores! season will begin in the fall, with On The Town running November 19 – 23, 2008. The season will continue with Music in the Air, a rarely seen 1932 Jerome Kern/Oscar Hammerstein II musical, and conclude with Finian's Rainbow, with music by Burton Lane and lyrics by E.Y. Harburg.

On The Town, with music by Leonard Bernstein and book and lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green, based on a concept by Jerome Robbins, was inspired by Robbins' 1944 ballet, "Fancy Free." Set in wartime 1944, On The Town is the story of three sailors' adventurous 24-hour leave in New York City. Their fabulous day-long journey is spurred by a search for sailor Gabey's dream girl, "Miss Turnstiles." Along the way, each sailor falls in love with a woman, and with New York City itself. 

The original Broadway production of On The Town, starring Nancy Walker, Betty Comden and Adolph Green, opened at the Adelphi Theatre on December 28, 1944, playing a total of 462 performances. It has since been revived at the Imperial Theatre in 1971 and the George Gershwin Theatre in 1998. Songs from On The Town include "New York, New York," "Some Other Time," and "I Can Cook Too."

Music in the Air, with music by Jerome Kern and book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, has been lovingly restored by the Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization, and not been seen in its original form since its premiere Broadway engagement at the Alvin Theatre in 1932. Opening on November 8th of that year, it  played for 342 performances in a production directed by the authors, Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II. A revised version had a brief revival at the Ziegfeld Theatre in 1951. Music in the Air will run February 5 – 8, 2009.

Set in Bavaria and Munich, Music in the Air was the transitional piece in Oscar Hammerstein II's career between his early operettas and his modern musicals written with Richard Rodgers. Although it retains an operetta-like setting, it is a musically and emotionally sophisticated romance, combining wit, elegance and melancholy in a manner reminiscent of the films of Ernst Lubitsch. It tells of an aging rural music teacher, his naively charming daughter and their misadventures trying to break into the cynical, world-weary theatre scene in the big city. Songs include "I've Told Ev'ry Little Star" and "The Song Is You".  

Finian's Rainbow, with music by Burton Lane, lyrics by E.Y. Harburg and book by E. Y. Harburg and Fred Saidy, opened at the 46th Street Theatre on January 10, 1949, directed by Bretaigne Windust, and played a total of 725 performances.  Michael Kidd won the Tony Award for his choreography.  (In an interesting note, the show played at New York City Center once before - for a week in May, 1955, presented by the New York City Light Opera.) Finian's Rainbow will run March 26 - 29 2009.

Finian's Rainbow is the story of the Irishman Finian McLonergan, and his daughter Sharon who arrive in the small Southern town of Rainbow Valley in the mythical state of Missitucky, with plans to bury a stolen pot of gold in the shadows of Fort Knox, in the mistaken belief it will grow and multiply. They have been followed from Ireland by the owner of the gold, a leprechaun, who shows up determined to recover his treasure. The musical is unusual in that it deals in a satirical way with issues of class and race, most specifically in the character of a bigoted southern senator who is accidentally turned black.  Songs include "How Are Things in Glocca Morra?," "When I'm Not Near the Girl I Love," and "If This Isn't Love." 

Rob Berman will music direct and conduct all three productions of the upcoming season. He was appointed Music Director of Encores! before the 2008 season and conducted this season's production of Applause and last season's Stairway to Paradise. He worked as founding music director Rob Fisher's associate on several Encores! productions, and took over the podium from Maestro Fisher during the Broadway transfers of Wonderful Town and The Apple Tree, both of which originated at Encores!   He conducted the Tony Award winning revival of The Pajama Game and was also music director and conductor of the Kennedy Center's production of Sunday in the Park with George for which he won a Helen Hayes Award for best musical direction.   He is music supervisor for Irving Berlin's White Christmas as well as The Gershwins' An American in Paris and is music director of the Kennedy Center Honors orchestra.

Newman's Own is a proud sponsor of Encores!. Paul Newman and the Newman's Own Foundation donate all profits and royalties after taxes for educational and charitable purposes.  Paul Newman and the Newman's Own Foundation have given over $200 million to thousands of charities worldwide since l982.  For years, Paul Newman filled old wine bottles with his homemade salad dressing for Christmas gifts.  One day, he reckoned that what was good enough for his pals was good enough for the public, and Newman's Own all-natural line of food products was born.   It has grown to include pasta sauce, microwave popcorn, salsa, lemonade and steak sauce.  For more information about Newman's Own, please visit www.newmansown.com. 

The 2008-2009 season is made possible in part by:  Stephanie and Fred Shuman Fund for Encores!

Major support for the New York City Center Encores! 2008-2009 season is provided by the Joseph S. and Diane H. Steinberg Charitable Trust and Roz and Jerry Meyer. 

New York City Center Encores! (Jack Viertel, Artistic Director; Rob Berman, Music Director) has, since 1994, celebrated the rarely-heard works of America's most important composers and lyricists.  Conceived as "concert versions," each Encores! season gives three scores the chance to be heard as originally intended by their creators.  Over the years, Encores! has presented the works of the Gershwins, Rodgers and Hart,

Rodgers and Hammerstein, Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, Kurt Weill, Bock and Harnick, Burt Bacharach, Kander and Ebb, Comden and Green, and many more.  The program is the recipient of a special 2000 Tony  Honor for Excellence in the Theatre, as well as an Outer Critics Circle Award, Lucille Lortel Award and Jujamcyn Theaters Award.

New York City Center (Arlene Shuler, President and CEO) has long been known and beloved by New York audiences not only as one of the City's preeminent performing art institutions but also as an accessible and welcoming venue for dance and theater.  New York City Center produces the Tony-honored Encores!

musical theater series, and is home to some of the country's leading dance companies, including Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, American Ballet Theatre, Paul Taylor Dance Company and Morphoses/The Wheeldon Company, as well as Manhattan Theatre Club, one of New York's leading theater companies. Continuing to fulfill its mission to make the arts accessible to the broadest possible audience, in 2004 New York City Center launched the acclaimed Fall for Dance Festival.  In 2006, New York City Center formed partnerships with both London's Sadler's Wells Theatre to facilitate the exchange of innovative dance works, and with Carnegie Hall to work together on exciting new programming initiatives between the two neighboring institutions. In 2007 New York City Center introduced the Encores! Summer Stars series with the critically-acclaimed production of Gypsy¸ currently having enjoying a successful run on Broadway, and will continue this summer with Damn Yankees starring Sean Hayes and Jane Krakowski.

Tickets for the 2008-2009 Encores! season are available at the New York City Center Box Office (West 55th Street between 6th and 7th Avenues), through CityTix® at 212-581-1212, or online at www.nycitycenter.org.  Tickets for the Orchestra, Grand Tier and Mid-Mezzanine tickets are $95; tickets for the Rear Mezzanine and Front Gallery are $50; tickets for the Rear Gallery are $25.
 

NEW YORK CITY CENTER

2008 ENCORES! SEASON
 

ON THE TOWN (November 19 – 23, 2008)

Opened at the Adelphi Theatre on December 28, 1944, directed by George Abbott with choreography by Jerome Robbins, and played for 462 performances.  

Music by Leonard Bernstein

Book and lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green

Based on an idea by Jerome Robbins

MUSIC IN THE AIR (February 5 – 8, 2009)

Opened at the Alvin Theatre on November 8, 1932, directed by Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II and ran for 342 performances. It had a brief revival at the Ziegfeld Theatre in 1951.

Music Jerome Kern

Book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II

FINIAN'S RAINBOW (March 26 – 29, 2009)

Opened at the 46th Street Theatre on January 10, 1949, directed by Bretaigne Windust and played a total of 725 performances. 

Music by Burton Lane

Book by E. Y. Harburg and Fred Saidy

Lyrics by E.Y. Harburg

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