Press Releases

New York, NY, September 9, 2009 – Jack Viertel, Artistic Director of New York City Center’s Encores! series, today announced directors for the three 2009-10 season musicals:  Jerry Zaks will direct the season opener, Girl Crazy, with music and lyrics by George Gershwin and Ira Gershwin and book by Guy Bolton and Jack McGowan, opening on November 19, 2009. Marc Bruni will direct Fanny, a musical play by S. N. Behrman and Joshua Logan, with music and lyrics byHarold Rome, opening on February 4, 2010.  Fanny will be the 50th Encores! production presented by City Center since 1994.  Casey Nicholaw will direct and choreograph Anyone Can Whistle, Stephen Sondheim and Arthur Laurents’ legendary 1964 musical, opening on April 8, 2010.

In addition, Mr. Viertel announced that Encores! Music Director Rob Berman will helm both Fanny and Anyone Can Whistle, andformer Encores! Music Director Rob Fisher will return as Guest Music Director for Girl Crazy.

Jerry Zaks (Director) directed Stairway to Paradise and Bye Bye Birdie for Encores! and acted in the first production, Fiorello!. He has received four Tony Awards, four Drama Desk Awards, two Outer Critics Circle Awards, an Obie Award, and an NAACP Image Award nomination. Mr. Zaks has directed more than 30 New York productions, including, on Broadway: Guys and Dolls (Tony Award), Six Degrees of Separation (Tony Award), Lend Me A Tenor (Tony Award), House of Blue Leaves (Tony Award), A Funny Thing…Forum, Smokey Joe’s Café, Anything Goes, and A Bronx Tale. Film: Marvin’s Room. TV: “Everybody Loves Raymond,” “Frasier,” and “Two and a Half Men.”  Mr. Zaks served as resident director at Lincoln Center Theater from 1986-1990. Since 1990 he has been proudly affiliated with Jujamcyn Theaters.

Marc Bruni is directing Ordinary Days for Roundabout Underground this fall. Other directing credits include Such Good Friends (NYMF Directing Award), The Music Man, My One And Only, Seven Brides... (St. Louis Muny), High Spirits (York), Glimpses Of The Moon (Oak Room).  He was Associate Director of the Broadway, London and touring productions of Legally Blonde and appeared on MTV's “Search for Elle Woods.” He has been associated with Walter Bobbie, Kathleen Marshall, Jerry Mitchell, and Jerry Zaks on thirteen Broadway shows including Irving Berlin's White Christmas, The Pajama Game, Grease, Wonderful Town, High Fidelity, Sweet Charity, La Cage Aux Folles, and Little Shop Of Horrors (Bway/Tour) as well as on City Center Encores! productions of Finian's Rainbo;, No, No, Nanette; Applause; 70, Girls, 70; and Bye Bye Birdie.

Casey Nicholaw was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Choreography for Monty Python's Spamalot and also for his direction and choreography for the Broadway production of The Drowsy Chaperone. Other New York credits include Candide starring Patti LuPone and Kristin Chenoweth for NY Philharmonic (also on PBS Great Performances) and South Pacific at Carnegie Hall with Reba McEntire and Brian Stokes Mitchell (also on PBS Great Performances). His previous Encores! credits include director/choreographer of Follies, the musical staging of Can-Can and the Bye Bye Birdie choreography. Upcoming projects include the new musicals Minsky's, Elf, and Robin and the 7 Hoods.

Rob Fisher was the founding music director and conductor of Encores! from its inception in 1994 until 2005, for which he won the Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Special Achievement in 1997. He served as Music Director for the 40th anniversary production of Hair in Central Park (continuing his association with the Broadway revival in 2009), for the revival of My Fair Lady with the New York Philharmonic in 2007 and for Chicago and its Grammy Award-winning cast album. Along with conducting many leading orchestras, Mr. Fisher has collaborated recently in concert with Kristin Chenoweth, Victoria Clark, Patti LuPone and David Hyde Pierce. 

Rob Berman is entering his third season as music director of Encores!, where he has conducted Stairway to Paradise, Damn Yankees, Music in the Air and Finian's Rainbow.  This fall he will be conducting the Broadway transfer of Finian's Rainbow at the St. James Theater.  Other Broadway credits include Irving Berlin's White Christmas, for which he serves as music supervisor, the Tony Award-winning revival of The Pajama Game, and Wonderful Town.  Rob was music director 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 also music director of the Kennedy Center Honors orchestra, for which he received an Emmy nomination.

Girl Crazy, the Gershwin's fanciful depression-era musical of 1930,is the tale of a sophisticated New Yorker marooned in a dusty Western cowtown with no one who understands him but the Yiddish-speaking cabbie who brought him there and no one to love but the only woman within 50 miles.  The show gave birth to one of the all-time flashiest Broadway scores, featuring “I Got Rhythm,” “Embraceable You,” “But Not For Me” and “Boy! What Love Has Done To Me,” among others. Girl Crazy opened at the Alvin Theatre on October 14, 1930 and ran for 272 performances. The Encores! production will run November 19 – 22, 2009.

Fanny, based on Marcel Pagnol’s trilogy Marius, Fanny and Cesar and set in Marseille, is among Broadway’s greatest love stories – a tale of a young girl’s passion for a young man so in love with the sea that he leaves her, little realizing that she is pregnant with his child. Her marriage of convenience to a wealthy older man desperate to have an heir is complicated by the sailor’s return years later. Joshua Logan and S.N. Behrman provided an earthy book, and Harold Rome’s score contains some of the most ardent and sweeping melodies ever written for the theater, including the title song, “Restless Heart” and “Never Too Late For Love.” Fanny opened on November 4, 1954 at the Majestic Theater and played for a total of 888 performances.  Fanny will run February 4 – 7, 2010.

Anyone Can Whistle, Stephen Sondheim and Arthur Laurents’ experimental satire of any and every target on the American cultural scene of the moment – conformity, psychology, race relations, greed, religion, politics – divided the critics, thrilled the emerging counter-culture, baffled the masses and closed quickly, becoming an instant legend that has grown over the years as Sondheim’s reputation has soared. The title song and “With So Little to Be Sure Of” have survived as cabaret classics, but the rarely-heard complete score is a riot of jazzy, show-biz razzmatazz, waltzes, gospel numbers and Broadway pastiche. Anyone Can Whistle opened on April 4, 1964 at the Majestic Theatre and ran for a brief 12 previews and 9 performances.  Anyone Can Whistle will run April 8 – 11, 2010.

The Newman’s Own Foundation is a proud sponsor of Encores!  The Newman's Own Foundation is an independent, private foundation which derives its grant-making income from royalty payments received in conjunction with the sale of Newman's Own food products.  Since the inception of Newman's Own in the early 1980s, over $250 million has been donated to thousands of charitable organizations worldwide.

The season is also made possible, in part, by the Stephanie and Fred Shuman Fund for Encores!

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 others.  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. In 2004 New York City Center launched the acclaimed Fall for Dance Festival, continuing to fulfill its mission to make the arts accessible to the broadest possible audience. 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¸ starring Patti LuPone, which subsequently enjoyed a successful run on Broadway, and which was followed by Damn Yankees starring Sean Hayes and Jane Krakowski and this past summer’s The Wiz, starring Ashanti.

Tickets for the 2009-2010 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 will present the third annual season of Morphoses/The Wheeldon Company, October 29 – November 1, 2009, featuring two unique programs including U.S. premieres by Artistic Director Christopher Wheeldon and Australian choreographer Tim Harbour, as well as works by Lightfoot León, Alexei Ratmansky and Mr. Wheeldon.  The engagement will feature live music performed by the Philharmonic Orchestra of the Americas, with the opening night conducted by the orchestra’s founder and music director, Alondra de la Parra.  Tickets go on sale September 8th. 

The first program is a centenary celebration of the Ballets Russes, inspired by the legendary company’s commitment to creating innovative, collaborative productions with the seminal artists of its time. This program features Christopher Wheeldon’s Commedia performed to Stravinsky’s “Pulcinella Suite,” which premiered at City Center last year to wide acclaim. It continues with husband and wife choreographic team Paul Lightfoot and Sol León’s Softly as I Leave You, reworked in 2009 as a duet for Morphoses dancers Drew Jacoby and Rubinald Pronk and Alexei Ratmansky’s Bolero, recreated for the Bolshoi Ballet in 2004, with music by Maurice Ravel. The evening concludes with a new work by Tim Harbour, commissioned by Morphoses with music by Ross Edwards.

The second program features Wheeldon’s Continuum (2002), performed to the music of György Ligeti, followed by Lightfoot Leon’s Softly as I Leave You.  The program concludes with Christopher Wheeldon’s untitled new work, co-commissioned by New York City Center and Sadler’s Wells, London, which will have its world premiere at Sadler’s Wells one week prior to its U.S. premiere at City Center. This new work, set to Rachmaninoff’s “Suites for Two Pianos,” will feature sets by the Havana-based installation artists Los Carpinteros and costumes by Francisco Costa, Women's Creative Director, Calvin Klein Collection. Continuum and Wheeldon’s new work will be performed to live piano music.

“I am so excited to be able to present two premieres this year at City Center,” said Christopher Wheeldon. “One of these original works, created for our 2009 season, will be my new ballet to the music of Sergei Rachmaninoff. This is a timeless piece music that conjures images of romance and sensuality, offering a rich score around which I can build my choreography. It is incredibly inspiring that in only our third year, we are adding more exciting creative artists to our list of collaborators:  Francisco Costa, Los Carpinteros and Tim Harbour, as well as once again, a group of world class dancers. I feel that with every year we follow our mission to bring ballet into the 21st century, and I am personally grateful to both New York City Center and Sadler's Wells Theatre for their support of Morphoses and our goals, and the freedom they offer us to create a repertoire for a new era.”

Leading dancers from major U.S. and European ballet companies will once again join the company, including Andrew Crawford, Ty Gurfein, Rory Hohenstein, Drew Jacoby, Kate Kadow, Gabrielle Lamb, Juan Pablo Ledo, Edwaard Liang, Matthew Prescott, Rubinald Pronk, Carrie Lee Riggins, Danielle Rowe, Lucas Segovia, Rachel Sherak, Beatriz Stix-Brunell and Wendy Whelan.

About the 2009 Morphoses Season:

Christopher Wheeldon
New Wheeldon, U.S. Premiere
Christopher Wheeldon’s newest work, set to Rachmaninoff’s “Suites for Two Pianos” with set designs by the Havana-based installation and collective artists Los Carpinteros and costumes by Francisco Costa, Women's Creative Director, Calvin Klein Collection, will have its U.S. premiere on October 30.

Commedia (2008), performed by eight dancers to Igor Stravinsky’s “Pulcinella Suite,” has costumes and sets designed by Isabel Toledo and Ruben Toledo.

Continuum (2002), performed by eight dancers to music by György Ligeti, was created for the San Francisco Ballet and set to Ligeti’s atonal and arrhythmic score for piano and harpsichord.

Tim Harbour
New Harbour, U.S. Premiere
Australian choreographer Tim Harbour’s new work for seven dancers, commissioned by Morphoses, features music by Ross Edwards and costumes designed by Benjamin Briones.  Harbour danced with The Australian Ballet for 13 years. He made his choreographic debut in 2005 with Sunken Waltz for The Australian Ballet, which was nominated as 'Best New Dance Work' in Australia's Critics’ Choice Awards. He followed this with Eve in 2006, Fielder in 2007, and Wa and Schattenwelt in 2008.

Lightfoot León
Softly as I Leave You (revised, 2009) has been re-worked as a duet for Morphoses dancers Drew Jacoby and Rubinald Pronk by husband and wife choreographic team Paul Lightfoot and Sol León, resident choreographers of Nederlands Dans Theater.  This work is a combination of solos and duets with music by Arvo Pärt and Johann Sebastian Bach. Paul Lightfoot and Sol León met as dancers with Nederlands Dans Theater in 1987. Since the beginning of their collaboration in 1991, they have created over thirty ballets for NDT. Paul Lightfoot and Sol León were named resident choreographers of the Nederlands Dans Theater in 2002.

Alexei Ratmansky
Bolero (re-created for the Bolshoi Ballet in 2004) is set to the music of Maurice Ravel.  Born in St. Petersburg, Alexei Ratmansky trained at the Bolshoi Ballet School in Moscow and performed as principal dancer with the Ukrainian National Ballet, the Royal Winnipeg Ballet and the Royal Danish Ballet. As a choreographer, Ratmansky has created ballets for the Dutch National Ballet, Kirov Ballet, the Royal Danish Ballet, the Royal Swedish Ballet, New York City Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, and the State Ballet of Georgia. He was recently appointed Artist in Residence by American Ballet Theatre.

Morphoses/The Wheeldon Company, formed by Christopher Wheeldon and Lourdes Lopez in 2007, has as its mission to broaden the scope of classical ballet by emphasizing innovation and fostering creativity through collaboration. The company is Guest Resident Company at both New York City Center and at Sadler’s Wells Theatre, London.  Christopher Wheeldon is Associate Artist of Sadler’s Wells Theatre.

Funding for the Ballets Russes Centenary Season is made possible in part by American Express, The Jerome Robbins Foundation and The Shubert Foundation.

In addition, American Express is the lead sponsor of Morphoses/The Wheeldon Company at New York City Center and a proud supporter of the Company’s transatlantic season at Sadler’s Wells Theatre, London.
New York City Center also gratefully acknowledges the generous support of Anne H. Bass, Ted and Mary Jo Shen and the New York City Center Dance Council for this presentation of Morphoses/The Wheeldon Company at New York City Center.  It also salutes Fred and Robin Seegal for their underwriting support of the 2009-2010 dance season.
The Philharmonic Orchestra of the Americas was founded in New York City in 2004 by then 23 year-old Mexican conductor and pianist Alondra de la Parra. Her vision has materialized into what is now an acclaimed orchestra that serves as a platform to showcase young composers and performers from the Americas, ranging from Argentina to Canada, presenting annual subscription concerts in New York City and touring the United States and Latin America. Since its inception, the Orchestra has performed for over 20,000 concertgoers in New York, Mexico City, Guadalajara, Oaxaca, Dallas, and Washington DC, featured 15 young soloists from the Americas, and performed 10 world premieres of American composers.   Its musicians hail from 19 different countries and are largely aged under 35.  In recent seasons, POA has built on its early success by recording film scores, performing at the Latin Grammys, instigating an international Young Composers’ Competition, and creating an innovative arts and education program for underprivileged youth in the United States and Mexico.
New York City Center has long been known and beloved by New York audiences not only as one of the City’s preeminent performing arts 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, City Center launched the acclaimed Fall for Dance Festival.  In 2006, City Center formed a partnership with London’s Sadler’s Wells Theatre to facilitate the exchange of innovative dance works as well as providing a dual home base for Morphoses. In 2007, City Center introduced the Encores! Summer Stars series with the critically acclaimed production of Gypsy, which was followed by the 2008 hit, Damn Yankees, and this summer’s production of The Wiz.

Morphoses/The Wheeldon Company will play for four performances, October 29– November 1,  at New York City Center, West 55th Street, between 6th and 7th Avenues, according to the following schedule:  Thursday, October 29 at 8pm; Friday, October 30 at 8pm; Saturday, October 31 at 8pm; and Sunday, November 1 at 3pm. Tickets can be purchased by calling CityTix® at 212-581-1212, online at www.nycitycenter.org  or at the City Center Box Office (West 55th Street between 6th and 7th Avenues).

Wendy Whelan appears courtesy of New York City Ballet and Danielle Rowe appears courtesy of The Australian Ballet.

New York City Center’s acclaimed Fall for Dance Festival, running September 22 – October 3, 2009, will feature 20 companies in 10 nights of dance and will pay tribute to the 100th Anniversary of the Ballets Russes.  The sixth annual Festival will once again offer all tickets for only $10.  Tickets will go on sale Sunday, September 13 at 11:00 am.

The 2009 Festival features 20 American and international companies presenting an eclectic mix of contemporary styles alongside classic pieces, in five unique programs over 10 nights. For the first time all programs will be repeated twice to satisfy the demand for tickets.  Several companies will present works that pay tribute to the legendary Ballets Russes, either with reconstructions of original Ballets Russes works or with a contemporary look at Ballets Russes classics.

“We are honored to include a tribute to the Ballets Russes and its extraordinary legacy in this year’s Fall for Dance Festival,” said Arlene Shuler.  “Since one of the goals of the Festival is to introduce a new generation to dance, it is fitting that we will celebrate one of the most important eras in dance history.  We are equally delighted that for the sixth consecutive year, we are able to present a rich array of dance companies for only $10 a ticket.”

As in past years, the 2009 Festival will feature a wide range of dance styles and traditions, ranging from classical ballet and tap to Capoeira and tango.  Fourteen companies will make their Festival debuts: The Australian Ballet, Ballet West, Basil Twist, Batsheva Dance Company, DanceBrazil, Dendy Dancetheater, Diana Vishneva, Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo, Mark Morris Dance Group, Monica Bill Barnes & Company, Tangueros del Sur, Teatro dell’Opera di Roma Ballet Company, Sang Jijia and Savion Glover & The OtheRz. The Festival welcomes back Boston Ballet, Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal and New York City Ballet, and New York City Center resident companies Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Morphoses/The Wheeldon Company and Paul Taylor Dance Company.

City Center’s Fall for Dance Festival has received national and international recognition for its quality, innovation and success in introducing new and younger audiences to the world of dance. The Festival has presented 133 different dance companies to more than 100,000 dance enthusiasts, all for the incredibly low price of $10 per ticket. Newcomers and ballet fans alike now look forward to the Festival as both an introduction to new artists and a welcome return to familiar and beloved companies.

New York City Center gratefully acknowledges the Fall for Dance Patrons Committee and the continued support of Time Warner, which has been a major sponsor of the Festival since its inception. “As a global media company, we believe the arts enrich our lives and should be accessible to everyone,” said Lisa M. Quiroz, Senior Vice President of Corporate Responsibility at Time Warner.  “Through Fall for Dance, City Center has put this goal center stage and has led the way in bringing gifted artists from around the world to audiences from across New York City.  We are proud to continue our partnership.”

New York City Center also recognizes the extraordinary leadership support of The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, which inaugurated a $10 million endowment campaign to ensure the future stability of the annual Fall for Dance Festival.  Additional generous funding for the Fall for Dance Festival endowment has been received from The Peter Jay Sharp Foundation, The Rockefeller Brothers Fund, The Ford Foundation and an anonymous donor.  Almost $5 million in commitments have been received to date.

100 YEARS OF INFLUENCE: THE BALLETS RUSSES
From its legendary first performances in Paris in 1909, Russian impresario Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes redefined ballet for the twentieth century.  Diaghilev brought together dancers, choreographers, composers and artists trained and nurtured in the Russian tradition, who pushed boundaries; his company became a hotbed of modernist invention. Leon Bakst, George Balanchine, Claude Debussy, Michel Fokine, Leonid Massine, Bronislava Nijinska, Vaslav Nijinsky, Anna Pavlova, Pablo Picasso and Igor Stravinsky were key Ballets Russes artists who overturned many of the conventions of classical ballet and ushered in the era of modern dance. The Ballets Russes lasted a brief 20 years, disbanding after the death of Diaghilev, but between 1909 and 1929 it staged more than 50 innovative new works and revolutionized an entire art form.

The 2009 Festival includes eight companies presenting Ballets Russes classics or contemporary interpretations of these great works:  The Australian Ballet’s presentation of Fokine’s Le Spectre de la Rose; Nijinska’s Les Biches by Ballet West; Petrushka Suite, puppeteer Basil Twist’s unique interpretation of Fokine’s and Stravinsky’s Petrouchka; Nijinsky’s Afternoon of a Faun, performed by Boston Ballet; Mark Dendy’s Afternoon of the Faunes, are-imagining of Nijinsky’s Afternoon of a Faun; Fokine’s The Dying Swan, performed by Diana Vishneva, prima ballerina of the Mariinsky Theatre; Noces, a contemporary response to Nijinska’s original Les Noces by choreographer Stijn Celis, and performed by Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal; and Balanchine’s rarely seen La Chatte, last seen in the United States in 1933, performed by Teatro dell’Opera di Roma Ballet Company.

In honor of the 100th Anniversary of the Ballets Russes, New York City Center and The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy & Lewis B. Cullman Center, will exhibit portions of Diaghilev's Theater of Marvels: The Ballets Russes and Its Aftermath during this year’s Fall for Dance Festival at New York City Center.  This exhibit can be seen at the New York Library for the Performing Arts from June 26 – September 12, 2009.

In other Ballets Russesrelated activities, Fall for Dance’s annual DanceTalk series will provide attendees with the opportunity to hear from dance experts about creative collaborations during the Ballets Russes era and influences this seminal period in dance has had on today’s artists.  Three pre-performance panels, including a discussion with Frederick Franklin and Georgina Parkinson, will take place in the New York City Center studios before selected performances. 

TEN NIGHTS, FIVE UNIQUE PROGRAMS
The Festival opens on Tuesday, September 22 (repeated Wednesday, September 23) with Boston Ballet’s performance of Nijinsky’s Afternoon of a Faun (1912), the ballet created for the Ballets Russes that caused a sensation at its Paris premiere.  City Center resident company Paul Taylor Dance Company willpresent Offenbach Overtures (1995),followed by Batsheva Dance Company, Ohad Naharin’s renowned Israeli company, making its Festival debut with Naharin’s interpretation of the Ravel classic, entitled B/olero (2008). The evening will come to a lively close with THE STaRz and STRiPes 4EVeR for NoW (2009),a group piece by Savion Glover & The OtheRz dedicated to John Coltrane.

Martha Graham Dance Company opens Program Two on Thursday, September 24 (repeated on Friday, September 25) with Diversion of Angels (1948), Graham’s romantic work performed to the music of Norman Dello Joio.  Tangueros del Sur, a new company featuring world-renowned tango dancers Natalia Hills and Gabriel Misse, makes its debut with Romper el Piso (2008), in which dancers and musicians pay tribute to the art of tango.  Morphoses/The Wheeldon Company, City Center’s guest resident company, will present Lightfoot León’sSoftly As I Leave You (2009), reworked as a duet. The evening will close with Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal, returning to the Festival with Noces (2002), based on Nijinska’s Les Noces, choreographed for 24 dancers by Belgian choreographer Stijn Celis.   (Note: there will be one additional company this evening, tba).

Program Three, on Saturday, September 26 (repeated Sunday afternoon, September 27) gets off to a poetic start with Petrushka Suite, renowned puppeteer Basil Twist’s 2001 response to Fokine’s ballet Petrouchka, set to a two-piano interpretation of Stravinsky’s score.  New York-based Monica Bill Barnes & Company follows with Barnes’ upbeat, contemporary piece, I feel like (2008), with music by Bach and James Brown.  Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo make their Festival debut with the Balanchineinspired Go for Barocco (1974), and the evening concludes on a spirited note, with DanceBrazil’s Culture in Motion (2009), choreographed by DanceBrazil founderJelon Vieira, using traditional Capoeira form.

Week Two begins with the fourth program on Wednesday, September 30 (repeated on Thursday, October 1) with two different looks at the Ballets Russes. Opening the evening will be Ballet West’s acclaimed production of Nijinska’s Les Biches (1924), for 19 dancers, with music by Poulenc. Choreographer Mark Dendy and his Dendy Dancetheater present Afternoon of the Faunes (from Dream Analysis, 1996),  a re-interpretation of Nijinsky’s Afternoon of a Faun, followed by New York City Ballet’s Four Bagatelles (1974),a duet by Jerome Robbins  performed to live piano music by Ludwig van Beethoven.  Mark Morris Dance Group’s exhilarating Grand Duo (1993), choreographed by Morris for 14 dancers to the music of Lou Harrison, will end the evening.

The Australian Ballet, not seen in this country for over a decade, opens the final program of the Festival, on Friday, October 2 (repeated Saturday, October 3) with Fokine’s Le Spectre de la Rose (1911), with music by von Weber.  Tibetan choreographer/dancer Sang Jijia performs his work, Snow (2008), a solo with music by Wim Mertens. Russian prima ballerina Diana Vishneva follows with her interpretation of Fokine’s classic, The Dying Swan (1905).  The Festival comes to a close with New York City Center’s resident company, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, and its joyous signature piece, Revelations (1960).

Ellen Dennis serves as Producer and Wendy Perron as Artistic Advisor to the New York City Center Fall for Dance Festival.

FESTIVAL LOUNGE
Lounge FFD appears only once each year, during the Fall for Dance Festival at New York City Center. For each Fall for Dance performance, the public atrium between 55th and 56th Streets (immediately west of the theater’s main entrance) is transformed into a vibrant gathering place for audience members and artists. Featuring music by a rotating roster of NYC DJs, Lounge FFD offers Festival attendees, performers and neighborhood friends a place to relax and mingle, share a cocktail and have a snack, before and after the show as well as during intermission  while video monitors throughout the Lounge follow the action onstage.

Lounge FFD is open to the general public as well as to Festival artists and attendees.  No tickets are required and everyone is welcome.

Lounge FFD 2009 DJ’s will include DJ Charles Gaskins (Hullabaloo), RekLES (Girls and Boys), DJ Lupe Loop,  DJ Ultra V (Rockem Sockem), Captain Heartlock, Tom Ward (Nashville Ramblers), DJ Shakey (Warper), DJ Xerox, and Patrik Phalen.  This year’s restaurant partners will include Osteria del Circo, Nocello, Le Bonne Soupe, Brasserie Cognac, Beacon, and Seppi’s.

FREE DANCE CLASSES

As in past years, the Festival will offer to both ticket buyers and the general public FREE dance lessons, held in Lounge FFD, beginning 90 minutes before curtain time.  This year’s lessons include tap on Wednesday, September 23; tango on Friday, September 25; Capoeira on Sunday, September 27 and an Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater Revelations workshop on Saturday, October 3.

NEW YORK CITY CENTER has long been known and beloved by New York audiences not only as one of the City’s preeminent performing arts 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, City Center launched the acclaimed Fall for Dance Festival.  In 2006, City Center formed a partnership with London’s Sadler’s Wells Theatre to facilitate the exchange of innovative dance works. In 2007, City Center introduced the Encores! Summer Stars series with the critically acclaimed production of Gypsy, which was followed by the 2008 hit, Damn Yankees, and this summer’s production of The Wiz.

NEW YORK CITY CENTER FALL FOR DANCE FESTIVAL runs Wednesday, September 22 through Saturday, October 3, 2009 at New York City Center (West 55th Street between 6th and 7th Avenues). All performances are at 8 pm, except for the Sunday, September 27 performance, which is a 3 pm matinee.  All tickets for the Fall for Dance Festival are $10 and go on sale on Sunday, September 13 at 11 am. Tickets can be purchased by calling CityTix® at 212-581-1212, online at www.nycitycenter.org or at the City Center Box Office, (West 55th Street between 6th and 7th Avenues).

Colman Domingo will replace Orlando Jones in the title role of The Wiz for the final six performances, June 29 – July 5 at New York City Center.  Mr. Jones is leaving the show early in order to shoot his new series “Crash Course” for ABC-TV. The Encores! Summer Stars production of The Wiz stars Ashanti, LaChanze, Joshua Henry, James Monroe Iglehart, Christian Dante White, Tichina Arnold and Dawnn Lewis.

Colman Domingo portrayed several roles, from the closeted church choir director to an aggressive Berlin performance artist, in the Tony Award-winning musical Passing Strange and will reprise those roles in the upcoming Spike Lee film.  He recently starred in Athol Fugard’s world premiere of Coming Home at Long Wharf Theater, and appeared in the Broadway company of Lisa Kron's Well.  He will star in his new  A Boy and His Soul, at The Vineyard Theatre  in September. Domingo is a regular on LOGO's "Big Gay Sketch Show," spoofing personalities from Maya Angelou to Oprah Winfrey. Domingo is also directed the Off-Broadway engagement of Single Black Female.

The Wiz, the 1974 rock and soul musical based on the beloved L. Frank Baum story about Dorothy and her adventures in Oz, will be directed by Thomas Kail and choreographed by Andy Blankenbuehler, with music direction by Alex Lacamoire, (the team responsible for the Tony-winning In the Heights).

The Wiz has a book by William F. Brown, music and lyrics by Charlie Smalls and orchestrations by Harold Wheeler. The original production was directed by Geoffrey Holder and choreographed by George Faison. It won seven Tony Awards, including Best Musical, Best Score and Best Choreography.

In addition to Ashanti,  Joshua Henry, James Monroe Iglehart, Christian Dante White, Tichina Arnold, Dawnn Lewis, Coleman Domingo and LaChanze, the cast includes Raymond Lamar Bennett, Tanya Birl, Darlesia Cearcy, Asmeret Ghebremichael, Angela Grovey, Ebony Haswell, Lauren Lim Jackson, Kevin-Anthony, Carl Lation, Jennifer Locke, Amy McClendon, Kenna Michelle Morris, John Eric Parker, Herman Payne, Ryan Rankine, Levensky Smith, Ephraim Sykes, Adrienne Warren, Daniel J. Watts, Juson Williams and William B. Wingfield.

Ashanti (Dorothy) burst onto the music scene with her 2002 self-titled debut album, Ashanti. The album landed at the #1 spot on both the Billboard Top 200 and R&B Album charts and won the Grammy for Best Contemporary R&B Album. Simultaneously, Ashanti also secured the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart and the R&B/Hip Hop Singles & Tracks chart with her song, “Foolish.” She made Billboard history by having her first three chart entries land in the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 at the same time, becoming the first woman to accomplish this feat (which was previously attained only by the Beatles). Her follow-up album, Chapter II, debuted in the # 1 slot on the Billboard Album Chart and spawned two Top-10 singles. Ashanti’s other albums include Ashanti’s Christmas; Concrete Rose; a remix album titled Collectibles by Ashanti and The Declaration.

Ashanti’s film credits include Coach Carter, Resident Evil Extinction, John Tucker Must Die and Bride & Prejudice. Her television credits include “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” “The Muppets’ Wizard of Oz,” “Sabrina, the Teenage Witch,” and “American Dreams,” in which she portrayed Dionne Warwick. Her first book of poetry is titled Foolish/Unfoolish: Reflections on Love.

The Wiz is made possible, in part, by Roz and Jerry Meyer, Ruthe and Tony Ponturo and the Stephanie and Fred Shuman Fund for Encores!

Encores! Summer Stars, (Jack Viertel, Artistic Director) now in its third season, is an expanded version of City Center’s acclaimed Encores! series.  Summer Stars is dedicated to presenting Broadway classics in limited-run productions. The previous Encores! Summer Stars presentations were the critically-acclaimed productions of Gypsy starring Patti LuPone and Damn Yankees starring Sean Hayes and Jane Krakowski.

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 arts 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. In 2004 New York City Center launched the acclaimed Fall for Dance Festival, continuing to fulfill its mission to make the arts accessible to the broadest possible audience. In 2006, New York City Center formed partnerships with 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.

The Wiz will run June 12 – July 5.Tickets range from $25 – $110 and 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.

THE WIZ PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE:  Monday and Tuesday evenings at 7:00 pm; Wednesday – Saturday evenings at 8:00 pm (note: Opening night, June 18 curtain is at 6:30pm; No performances on July 3 and 4); and Wednesday matinees at 2:00 pm.  There will be Saturday matinees on June 20 and 27. Closing performance is on Sunday, July 5 at 7:00 pm.

“There’s No Place Like Home” for homeless shelter dogs, according to Nigel, the former street-dog-turned-stage-star, who is making his New York professional debut in The Wiz at City Center in June.  The need for a home is what inspired Nigel, along with co-star Ashanti (who plays Dorothy) to host “There’s No Place Like Home”Adoption Day on Saturday, May 30 at 11:00 am at City Center (55th Street between 6th and 7th Avenues).

Nigel will be signing “pawographs,” and will pose for photos on a bright Yellow Brick Road that will be installed on the sidewalk in front of City Center. The Humane Society of New York, along with Broadway animal trainer and handler Bill Berloni, will be bringing adorable, star-quality dogs to City Center for adoption.  All pups would like nothing better than to click their four heels together and go home with a loving human.

Nigel, in the tradition of the original Sandy, (who shot to stardom in the original production of Annie), had a hard-knock life before finding salvation and stardom in the theatrical world.  He was born in Arkansas almost 20 months ago.  Life was not easy for the 15-pound pup, who was abandoned on the street before finding haven with the Northeast Arkansas Humane Society.  In a modern-day version of the famous legend of Lana Turner, who was discovered by a talent scout at a Schrafts Drugstore, Nigel was discovered on the Humane Society’s website by Bill Berloni, award-winning theatrical animal trainer and Director of Animal behavior for the Humane Society of New York, who was looking for just the right dog to play Toto.

Joining Nigel in the cast of The Wiz will be Ashanti as Dorothy, along with Orlando Jones (The Wiz), Joshua Henry, James Monroe Iglehart, Christian White, Tichina Arnold, Dawnn Lewis and LaChanze, as well as Raymond Lamar Bennett, Tanya Birl, Darlesia Cearcy, Asmeret Ghebremichael, Angela Grovey, Ebony Haswell, Lauren Lim Jackson, Carl Lation, Maurice Lauchner, Jennifer Locke, Amy McClendon, Kenna Michelle Morris, John Eric Parker, Herman Payne, Ryan Rankine, Levensky Smith, Ephraim Sykes, Adrienne Warren, Daniel J. Watts, Juson Williams and Will Wingfield.

The Wiz, the 1974 rock and soul musical based on the beloved L. Frank Baum story about Dorothy and her adventures in Oz, will be directed by Thomas Kail and choreographed by Andy Blankenbuehler, with music direction by Alex Lacamoire, (the team responsible for the Tony-winning In the Heights) with sets by David Korins, costumes by Paul Tazewell, lighting by Ken Billington and sound by ACME Sound Partners.  A June 18th opening is planned.  (Editors note: there has been a slight change in the running schedule; please see below.)

The Wiz has a book by William F. Brown, music and lyrics by Charlie Smalls and orchestrations by Harold Wheeler. The original production was directed by Geoffrey Holder and choreographed by George Faison. It won seven Tony Awards, including Best Musical, Best Score and Best Choreography.

The Wiz is an adaptation of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum, told from the African-American perspective. The original Broadway production of The Wizopened at the Majestic Theatre on January 5, 1975, and moved to the Broadway Theater on May 25, 1977, running for over four years for a total of 1,672 performances. 

Ashanti (Dorothy) burst onto the music scene with her 2002 self-titled debut album, Ashanti. The album landed at the #1 spot on both the Billboard Top 200 and R&B Album charts and won the Grammy for Best Contemporary R&B Album. Simultaneously, Ashanti also secured the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart and the R&B/Hip Hop Singles & Tracks chart with her song, “Foolish.” She made Billboard history by having her first three chart entries land in the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 at the same time, becoming the first woman to accomplish this feat (which was previously attained only by the Beatles). Her follow-up album, Chapter II, debuted in the # 1 slot on the Billboard Album Chart and spawned two Top-10 singles. Ashanti’s other albums include Ashanti’s Christmas; Concrete Rose; a remix album titled Collectibles by Ashanti and The Declaration.

Since 1904, the Humane Society of New York has been a presence in New York City, reaching out to animals in need when illness, injury or homelessness strikes and often with no place else to go. Today its hospital, spay/neuter programs and Vladimir Horowitz and Wanda Toscanini Horowitz Adoption Center help 33,000 dogs and cats annually, and their numbers continue to grow. The cost of caring is high and, for the Society, help is made possible entirely by its own fund raising efforts, including the charitable gifts of people who value, and choose to support its mission. Humane Society of New York, 306 East 59th Street, New York, NY 10022 (212) 752-4842 www.humanesocietyny.org

Encores! Summer Stars, (Jack Viertel, Artistic Director) now in its third season, is an expanded version of City Center’s acclaimed Encores! series.  Summer Stars is dedicated to presenting Broadway classics in limited-run productions. The previous Encores! Summer Stars presentations were the critically-acclaimed productions of Gypsy starring Patti LuPone and Damn Yankees starring Sean Hayes and Jane Krakowski.

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 arts 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. In 2004 New York City Center launched the acclaimed Fall for Dance Festival, continuing to fulfill its mission to make the arts accessible to the broadest possible audience. In 2006, New York City Center formed partnerships with 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.

The Wiz will run June 12 – July 5.Tickets range from $25 – $110 and 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.

THE WIZ PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE:  Monday and Tuesday evenings at 7:00 pm; Wednesday – Saturday evenings at 8:00 pm (note: Opening night, June 18 curtain is at 6:30pm; No performances on July 3 and 4); and Wednesday matinees at 2:00 pm.  There will be Saturday matinees on June 20 and 27. Closing performance is on Sunday, July 5 at 7:00 pm.

Nigel, a brindle-hair Cairn Terrier, will be making his professional stage debut as Toto in the Encores! Summer Stars production of The Wiz, starring Ashanti as Dorothy, June 12 – July 5 at New York City Center, 131 W. 55th Street (between 6th and 7th Avenues).

Nigel, in the tradition of the original Sandy, (who shot to stardom in the original production of Annie), had a hard-knock life before finding salvation and stardom in the theatrical world.  He was born in Arkansas almost 20 months ago.  Life was not easy for the 15-pound pup, who was abandoned on the street before finding haven with the Northeast Arkansas Humane Society.  In a modern-day version of the famous legend of Lana Turner, who was discovered by a talent scout at a Schrafts Drugstore, Nigel was discovered on the Humane Society’s website by Bill Berloni, award-winning theatrical animal trainer and Director of Animal behavior for the Humane Society of New York, who was looking for just the right dog to play Toto.

"Nigel's headshot called out to me," said Bill Berloni, "After thirty years of rescuing dogs for Broadway shows which began with Sandy (who shot to stardom in the original production of Annie), I know talent when I see it. After speaking to the shelter about his personality I knew he had star potential. I predict a great future for him. He is as smart as Sandy with the right amount of Bruiser (from Legally Blonde)."

Nigel is currently making his out-of-town stage debut in Pittsburgh, where he is playing Toto in the Woodlands High School production of The Wizard of Oz, so he will come to New York with some familiarity with the role.

Joining Nigel in the cast will be Ashanti as Dorothy, along with Orlando Jones (The Wiz), Joshua Henry, James Monroe Iglehart, Christian White, Tichina Arnold, Dawnn Lewis and LaChanze, as well as Raymond Lamar Bennett, Tanya Birl, Darlesia Cearcy, Asmeret Ghebremichael, Angela Grovey, Ebony Haswell, Lauren Lim Jackson, Carl Lation, Maurice Lauchner, Jennifer Locke, Amy McClendon, Kenna Michelle Morris, John Eric Parker, Herman Payne, Ryan Rankine, Levensky Smith, Ephraim Sykes, Adrienne Warren, Daniel J. Watts, Juson Williams and Will Wingfield.

The Wiz, the 1974 rock and soul musical based on the beloved L. Frank Baum story about Dorothy and her adventures in Oz, will be directed by Thomas Kail and choreographed by Andy Blankenbuehler, with music direction by Alex Lacamoire, (the team responsible for the Tony-winning In the Heights) with sets by David Korins, costumes by Paul Tazewell, lighting by Ken Billington and sound by ACME Sound Partners.  A June 18th opening is planned.  (Editors note: there has been a slight change in the running schedule; please see below.)

The Wiz has a book by William F. Brown, music and lyrics by Charlie Smalls and orchestrations by Harold Wheeler. The original production was directed by Geoffrey Holder and choreographed by George Faison. It won seven Tony Awards, including Best Musical, Best Score and Best Choreography.

The Wiz is an adaptation of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum, told from the African-American perspective. The original Broadway production of The Wizopened at the Majestic Theatre on January 5, 1975, and moved to the Broadway Theater on May 25, 1977, running for over four years for a total of 1,672 performances.

Ashanti (Dorothy) burst onto the music scene with her 2002 self-titled debut album, Ashanti. The album landed at the #1 spot on both the Billboard Top 200 and R&B Album charts and won the Grammy for Best Contemporary R&B Album. Simultaneously, Ashanti also secured the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart and the R&B/Hip Hop Singles & Tracks chart with her song, “Foolish.” She made Billboard history by having her first three chart entries land in the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 at the same time, becoming the first woman to accomplish this feat (which was previously attained only by the Beatles). Her follow-up album, Chapter II, debuted in the # 1 slot on the Billboard Album Chart and spawned two Top-10 singles. Ashanti’s other albums include Ashanti’s Christmas; Concrete Rose; a remix album titled Collectibles by Ashanti and The Declaration. Ashanti’s film credits include Coach Carter, Resident Evil Extinction, John Tucker Must Die and Bride & Prejudice. Her television credits include “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” “The Muppets’ Wizard of Oz,” “Sabrina, the Teenage Witch,” and “American Dreams,” in which she portrayed Dionne Warwick. Her first book of poetry is titled Foolish/Unfoolish: Reflections on Love.

Orlando Jones (The Wiz) made his film debut in Barry Levinson's Liberty Heights.  Other film credits include Biker Boyz, The Time Machine, Bedazzled, Say It Isn't So, Double Take, Magnolia, New Jersey Turnpikes and Primeval. His television credits include the role of Detective Cayman Bishop on the ABC drama “The Evidence,” his own late night talk show on FX called “The Orlando Jones Show,” and appearances on the “The Bernie Mac Show” and “Girlfriends.” Jones co-created and provided voice-overs for the MTV2 animated series “The Adventures of Chico & Guapo,” was an original cast member of the Fox comedy series, “MADtv” for two seasons, and was a writer for Fox’s “Roc Live” and “Sinbad.” He appeared in the Pasadena Playhouse production of August Wilson’s Fences opposite Laurence Fishburne and Angela Bassett.

LaChanze (Glinda) recently appeared in Inked Baby atPlaywrights Horizons, and received a Tony Award for her leading role in The Color Purple. She made her Broadway debut in Uptown...It's Hot!, directed by Maurice Hines and was next cast in the first international tour of Dreamgirls, which finished with a run on Broadway. Her other Broadway and off Broadway credits include Once on this Island, for which she received Tony and Drama Desk Award nominations and a Theatre World Award; Ragtime; the first Broadway revival of Company; the title role in Dessa Rose, (Drama Desk Award nomination and Obie Award); The Bubbly Black Girl Sheds Her Chameleon Skin; and The Vagina Monologues.  LaChanze starred in the Encores! production of Out Of This World.

Joshua Henry (Tinman) is a member of Jaradoa Theater Company.  His Broadway and off Broadway credits include In the Heights, for which he won a Drama Desk Award and Serenade.  His film credits include Sex and the City.

James Monroe Iglehart (Lion) appeared on Broadway as Mitch in the 25th Annual Putnum County Spelling Bee. He is a member of the hip hop improv group Freestyle Love Supreme.

Christian White(Scarecrow) performed the role of ‘Seaweed’ in the national tour of Hairspray for two years.

Tichina Arnold (Evillene) currently plays Chris’s Mom on the sitcom “Everybody Hates Chris.”  She made her film debut at the age of 15 in Little Shop of Horrors.  Her films include How I Got into College and Scenes from a Mall. Arnold played Pamela James on Martin Lawrence's sitcom “Martin,”and appeared with Lawrence in the film Big Momma's House. She reunited with Lawrence in the film Wild Hogs. More recently, she played the title role in The Lena Baker Story, about the first woman to be executed by the electric chair in Georgia.

Dawnn Lewis (Addaperle) is perhaps best known for her roles on sitcoms such as “A Different World” and in the first season of “Hangin' with Mr. Cooper.” She has appeared in numerous TV series sitcoms, and played Blabberwort the Troll in the miniseries “The 10th Kingdom.” Her film credits include I’m Gonna Get You Sucka and Dreamgirls. In 2006, Lewis released her debut CD entitled Worth Waiting For.  Her stage credits include “How to Succeed” with Matthew Broderick, The Street of the Sun and Can-Can.

Thomas Kail (Director) was nominated for Tony and Drama Desk Awards for his direction of In the Heights. Mr. Kail is artistic director and co-founder of Back House Productions (BHP), the resident theatre of New York City's The Drama Book Shop. BHP has developed many new works since its founding in 2001, including early versions of In the Heights and Anne Nelson's Savages. He also directs and co-created Freestyle Love Supreme, a hip-hop improv group that has performed in New York City, the Aspen Comedy and Edinburgh Fringe Festivals and the 2006 Melbourne Comedy Festival.

Andy Blankenbuehler (Choreographer) won the Tony and Drama Desk Awards for his choreography of In the Heights.He received a Tony Award nomination for Best Choreography for his work on the current Broadway production of 9 to 5, and his work has also been seen in the Broadway revival of The Apple Tree (starring Kristin Chenoweth) and the West End musical Desperately Seeking Susan.  Mr. Blankenbuehler has staged concert work for Bette Midler, and he directed, choreographed and co-conceived the hit Caesars Palace production Nights on Broadway. Other recent work includes: A Little Princess (music by Andrew Lippa), Waiting for the Moon (music by Frank Wildhorn), Broadway by the Year: 1930, 1938 and 1978, and the City Center Encores! production of The Apple Tree.

Alex Lacamoire (Music Director) is the music director and Tony-winning orchestrator for In the Heights on Broadway. He also won a 2009 Grammy for producing the In the Heights cast album. Other credits as music director, arranger, and/or orchestrator: 9 to 5, Wicked, High Fidelity, Bat Boy: The Musical, the 2001 national tour of Godspell, Captain Louie, Working and Legally Blonde.

The Wiz is made possible, in part, by Roz and Jerry Meyer, Ruthe and Tony Ponturo and the Stephanie and Fred Shuman Fund for Encores!

Encores! Summer Stars, (Jack Viertel, Artistic Director) now in its third season, is an expanded version of City Center’s acclaimed Encores! series.  Summer Stars is dedicated to presenting Broadway classics in limited-run productions. The previous Encores! Summer Stars presentations were the critically-acclaimed productions of Gypsy starring Patti LuPone and Damn Yankees starring Sean Hayes and Jane Krakowski.

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 arts 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. In 2004 New York City Center launched the acclaimed Fall for Dance Festival, continuing to fulfill its mission to make the arts accessible to the broadest possible audience. In 2006, New York City Center formed partnerships with 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.

The Wiz will run June 12 – July 5.Tickets range from $25 – $110 and 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.

THE WIZ PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE:  Monday and Tuesday evenings at 7:00 pm; Wednesday – Saturday evenings at 8:00 pm (note: Opening night, June 18 curtain is at 6:30pm; No performances on July 3 and 4); and Wednesday matinees at 2:00 pm.  There will be Saturday matinees on June 20 and 27. Closing performance is on Sunday, July 5 at 7:00 pm.

Orlando Jones will play The Wiz, and Tony Award-winning actress LaChanze will play Glinda, the good witch, in the Encores! Summer Stars production of The Wiz, starring Ashanti, June 12 – July 5 at New York City Center.  Glinda’s sister-witches will include Tichina Arnold as Evillene and Dawnn Lewis as Addaperle.  Easing down the road with Ashanti’s Dorothy will be Joshua Henry as the Tinman, James Monroe Iglehart as the Lion and Christian White as the Scarecrow.

The Wiz, the 1974 rock and soul musical based on the beloved L. Frank Baum story about Dorothy and her adventures in Oz, will be directed by Thomas Kail and choreographed by Andy Blankenbuehler, with music direction by Alex Lacamoire, (the team responsible for the Tony-winning In the Heights) sets by David Korins, costumes by Paul Tazewell, lighting by Ken Billington and sound by ACME Sound Partners.  A June 18th opening is planned.  (Editors note: there has been a slight change in the running schedule; please see below.)

The Wiz has a book by William F. Brown, music and lyrics by Charlie Smalls and orchestrations by Harold Wheeler. The original production was directed by Geoffrey Holder and choreographed by George Faison. It won seven Tony Awards, including Best Musical, Best Score and Best Choreography.

In addition to Ashanti, Orlando Jones, Joshua Henry, James Monroe Inglehart, Christian White, Tichina Arnold, Dawnn Lewis and LaChanze, the cast includes Raymond Bennett, Tanya Birl, Darlesia Cearcy, Asmeret Ghebremichael, Angela Grovey, Ebony Haswell, Lauren Lim Jackson, Carl Lation, Maurice Lauchner, Jennifer Locke, Amy McClendon, Kenna Morris, John Eric Parker, Herman Payne, Ryan Rankine, Levensky Smith, Ephraim Sykes, Adrienne Warren, Daniel J. Watts, Juson Williams and Will Wingfield.

Ashanti (Dorothy) burst onto the music scene with her 2002 self-titled debut album, Ashanti. The album landed at the #1 spot on both the Billboard Top 200 and R&B Album charts and won the Grammy for Best Contemporary R&B Album. Simultaneously, Ashanti also secured the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart and the R&B/Hip Hop Singles & Tracks chart with her song, “Foolish.” She made Billboard history by having her first three chart entries land in the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 at the same time, becoming the first woman to accomplish this feat (which was previously attained only by the Beatles). Her follow-up album, Chapter II, debuted in the # 1 slot on the Billboard Album Chart and spawned two Top-10 singles. Ashanti’s other albums include Ashanti’s Christmas; Concrete Rose; a remix album titled Collectibles by Ashanti and The Declaration. Ashanti’s film credits include Coach Carter, Resident Evil Extinction, John Tucker Must Die and Bride & Prejudice. Her television credits include “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” “The Muppets’ Wizard of Oz,” “Sabrina, the Teenage Witch,” and “American Dreams,” in which she portrayed Dionne Warwick. Her first book of poetry is titled Foolish/Unfoolish: Reflections on Love.

Orlando Jones (The Wiz) made his film debut in Barry Levinson's Liberty Heights.  Other film credits include Biker Boyz, The Time Machine, Bedazzled, Say It Isn't So, Double Take, Magnolia, New Jersey Turnpikes and Primeval. His television credits include the role of Detective Cayman Bishop on the ABC drama “The Evidence,” his own late night talk show on FX called “The Orlando Jones Show,” and appearances on the “The Bernie Mac Show” and “Girlfriends.” Jones co-created and provided voice-overs for the MTV2 animated series “The Adventures of Chico & Guapo,” was an original cast member of the Fox comedy series, “MADtv” for two seasons, and was a writer for Fox’s “Roc Live” and “Sinbad.” He appeared in the Pasadena Playhouse production of August Wilson’s Fences opposite Laurence Fishburne and Angela Bassett.

LaChanze (Glinda) recently appeared in Inked Baby atPlaywrights Horizons, and received a Tony Award for her leading role in The Color Purple. She made her Broadway debut in Uptown...It's Hot!, directed by Maurice Hines and was next cast in the first international tour of Dreamgirls, which finished with a run on Broadway. Her other Broadway and off Broadway credits include Once on this Island, for which she received Tony and Drama Desk Award nominations and a Theatre World Award; Ragtime; the first Broadway revival of Company; the title role in Dessa Rose, (Drama Desk Award nomination and Obie Award); The Bubbly Black Girl Sheds Her Chameleon Skin; and The Vagina Monologues.  LaChanze starred in the Encores! production of Out Of This World.
Joshua Henry (Tinman) is a member of Jaradoa Theater Company.  His Broadway and off Broadway credits include In the Heights, for which he won a Drama Desk Award and Serenade.  His film credits include Sex and the City.

James Monroe Iglehart (Lion) appeared on Broadway as Mitch in the 25th Annual Putnum County Spelling Bee. He is a member of the hip hop improv group Freestyle Love Supreme.

Christian White(Scarecrow) performed the role of ‘Seaweed’ in the national tour of Hairspray for two years.

Tichina Arnold (Evillene) currently plays Chris’s Mom on the sitcom “Everybody Hates Chris.”  She made her film debut at the age of 15 in Little Shop of Horrors.  Her films include How I Got into College and Scenes from a Mall. Arnold played Pamela James on Martin Lawrence's sitcom “Martin,”and appeared with Lawrence in the film Big Momma's House. She reunited with Lawrence in the film Wild Hogs. More recently, she played the title role in The Lena Baker Story, about the first woman to be executed by the electric chair in Georgia.

Dawnn Lewis (Addaperle) is perhaps best known for her roles on sitcoms such as “A Different World” and in the first season of “Hangin' with Mr. Cooper.” She has appeared in numerous TV series sitcoms, and played Blabberwort the Troll in the miniseries “The 10th Kingdom.” Her film credits include I’m Gonna Get You Sucka and Dreamgirls. In 2006, Lewis released her debut CD entitled Worth Waiting For.  Her stage credits include “How to Succeed” with Matthew Broderick, The Street of the Sun and Can-Can.

The Wiz is an adaptation of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum, told from the African-American perspective. The original Broadway production of The Wizopened at the Majestic Theatre on January 5, 1975, and moved to the Broadway Theater on May 25, 1977, running for over four years for a total of 1,672 performances. 

Thomas Kail (Director) was nominated for Tony and Drama Desk Awards for his direction of In the Heights. Mr. Kail is artistic director and co-founder of Back House Productions (BHP), the resident theatre of New York City's The Drama Book Shop. BHP has developed many new works since its founding in 2001, including early versions of In the Heights and Anne Nelson's Savages. He also directs and co-created Freestyle Love Supreme, a hip-hop improv group that has performed in New York City, the Aspen Comedy and Edinburgh Fringe Festivals and the 2006 Melbourne Comedy Festival.

Andy Blankenbuehler (Choreographer) won the Tony and Drama Desk Awards for his choreography of In the Heights.He received a Tony Award nomination for Best Choreography for his work on the current Broadway production of 9 to 5, and his work has also been seen in the Broadway revival of The Apple Tree (starring Kristin Chenoweth) and the West End musical Desperately Seeking Susan.  Mr. Blankenbuehler has staged concert work for Bette Midler, and he directed, choreographed and co-conceived the hit Caesars Palace production Nights on Broadway. Other recent work includes: A Little Princess (music by Andrew Lippa), Waiting for the Moon (music by Frank Wildhorn), Broadway by the Year: 1930, 1938 and 1978, and the City Center Encores! production of The Apple Tree.

Alex Lacamoire (Music Director) is the music director and Tony-winning orchestrator for In the Heights on Broadway. He also won a 2009 Grammy for producing the In the Heights cast album. Other credits as music director, arranger, and/or orchestrator: 9 to 5, Wicked, High Fidelity, Bat Boy: The Musical, the 2001 national tour of Godspell, Captain Louie, Working and Legally Blonde.

The Wiz is made possible, in part, by Roz and Jerry Meyer, Ruthe and Tony Ponturo and the Stephanie and Fred Shuman Fund for Encores!

Encores! Summer Stars, (Jack Viertel, Artistic Director) now in its third season, is an expanded version of City Center’s acclaimed Encores! series.  Summer Stars is dedicated to presenting Broadway classics in limited-run productions. The previous Encores! Summer Stars presentations were the critically-acclaimed productions of Gypsy starring Patti LuPone and Damn Yankees starring Sean Hayes and Jane Krakowski.

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 arts 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. In 2004 New York City Center launched the acclaimed Fall for Dance Festival, continuing to fulfill its mission to make the arts accessible to the broadest possible audience. In 2006, New York City Center formed partnerships with 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.

The Wiz will run June 12 – July 5.Tickets range from $25 – $110 and 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. 

THE WIZ PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE:  Monday and Tuesday evenings at 7:00 pm; Wednesday – Saturday evenings at 8:00 pm (note: Opening night, June 18 curtain is at 6:30pm; No performances on July 3 and 4); and Wednesday matinees at 2:00 pm.  There will be Saturday matinees on June 20 and 27. Closing performance is on Sunday, July 5 at 7:00 pm.

Singer/songwriter, actor and author Ashanti will make her stage debut as Dorothy in the New York City Center Encores! Summer Stars productionof The Wiz, June 12 – July 5 at New York City Center (W. 55th Street between 6th & 7th Avenues). The Wiz, the 1974 rock and soul musical based on the beloved L. Frank Baum story about Dorothy and her adventures in Oz, will be directed by Thomas Kail and choreographed by Andy Blankenbuehler, with music direction by Alex Lacamoire, (the team responsible for the Tony-winning In the Heights) with sets by David Korins, costumes by Paul Tazewell,  lighting by Ken Billington and sound by ACME Sound Partners.  A June 18th opening is planned.

The Wiz has a book by William F. Brown, music and lyrics by Charlie Smalls and orchestrations by Harold Wheeler. The original production was directed by Geoffrey Holder and choreographed by George Faison. It won seven Tony Awards, including Best Musical, Best Score and Best Choreography.

Ashanti burst onto the music scene with her 2002 self-titled debut album, Ashanti. The album landed at the #1 spot on both the Billboard Top 200 and R&B Album charts, and won the Grammy for Best Contemporary R&B Album. Simultaneously, Ashanti also secured the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart and the R&B/Hip Hop Singles & Tracks chart with her song, “Foolish.” She made Billboard history by having her first three chart entries land in the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 at the same time, becoming the first woman to accomplish this feat (which was previously attained only by the Beatles). Her follow-up album, Chapter II, debuted in the # 1 slot on the Billboard Album Chart and spawned two Top-10 singles. Ashanti’s other albums include Ashanti’s Christmas; Concrete Ros; a remix album titled, Collectibles by Ashanti and The Declaration.

Ashanti’s film credits include Coach Carter, Resident Evil Extinction, John Tucker Must Die and Bride & Prejudice. Her television credits include “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” “The Muppets’ Wizard of Oz,” “Sabrina, the Teenage Witch,” and “American Dreams,” in which she portrayed Dionne Warwick. Her first book of poetry is titled Foolish/Unfoolish: Reflections on Love. (www.ashantithisisme.com)

The Wiz is an all African-American adaptation of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum, told from the African-American perspective. The original Broadway production of The Wizopened at the Majestic Theatre on January 5, 1975, and moved to the Broadway Theater on May 25, 1977, running for over four years for a total of 1,672 performances.  Stephanie Mills, Hinton Battle, Tiger Haynes, Ted Ross, Dee Dee Bridgewater and Andre De Shields starred. 

Thomas Kail was nominated for Tony and Drama Desk Awards for his direction of In the Heights. Mr. Kail is artistic director and co-founder of Back House Productions (BHP), the resident theatre of New York City's The Drama Book Shop. BHP has developed many new works since its founding in 2001, including early versions of In the Heights and Anne Nelson's Savages. He also directs and co-created Freestyle Love Supreme, a hip-hop improv group that has performed in New York City, the Aspen Comedy and Edinburgh Fringe Festivals and the 2006 Melbourne Comedy Festival.

Andy Blankenbuehler won the Tony and Drama Desk Awards for his choreography of In the Heights.He is choreographer of the current Broadway production of 9 to 5, and his work has also been seen in the Broadway revival of The Apple Tree (starring Kristin Chenoweth) and the West End musical Desperately Seeking Susan.  Mr. Blankenbuehler has staged concert work for Bette Midler, and he directed, choreographed and co-conceived the hit Caesars Palace production Nights on Broadway. Other recent work includes: A Little Princess (music by Andrew Lippa), Waiting for the Moon (music by Frank Wildhorn), Broadway by the Year: 1930, 1938 and 1978, and the City Center Encores! production of The Apple Tree.

Alex Lacamoire is  the music director and Tony-winning orchestrator for In the Heights on Broadway. He also won a 2009 Grammy for producing the In the Heights cast album. Other credits as music director, arranger, and/or orchestrator: 9 to 5, Wicked, High Fidelity, Bat Boy: The Musical, the 2001 national tour of Godspell, Captain Louie, Working and Legally Blonde.

The Wiz is made possible, in part, by Roz and Jerry Meyer, Ruthe and Tony Ponturo and the Stephanie and Fred Shuman Fund for Encores!

Encores! Summer Stars, (Jack Viertel, Artistic Director) now in its third season, is an expanded version of City Center’s acclaimed Encores! series.  Summer Stars is dedicated to presenting Broadway classics in limited-run productions. The previous Encores! Summer Stars presentations were the critically-acclaimed productions of Gypsy starring Patti LuPone and Damn Yankees starring Sean Hayes and Jane Krakowski.

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 arts 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. In 2004 New York City Center launched the acclaimed Fall for Dance Festival, continuing to fulfill its mission to make the arts accessible to the broadest possible audience. In 2006, New York City Center formed partnerships with 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.

The Wiz will run June 12 – July 5.Tickets range from $25 – $110 and 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.

THE WIZ PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE:  Monday and Tuesday evenings at 7:00 pm; Wednesday – Saturday evenings at 8:00 pm (note: Opening night, June 18 curtain is at 6:30pm); and Wednesday matinees at 2:00 pm.  There will be Saturday matinees on June 20 and 27.

Girl Crazy, with music by George Gershwin, lyrics by Ira Gershwin and book by Guy Bolton and Jack McGowan, will open New York City Center’s 2009–2010 Encores! season on November 19, 2009. The season will continue with Fanny,with music and lyrics byHarold Rome and book by S. N. Behrman and Joshua Logan, on February 4, 2010.  Fanny will be the 50th Encores! production presented by City Center since 1994.  The season will conclude with Anyone Can Whistle, Stephen Sondheim and Arthur Laurents’ legendary 1964 musical, on April 8, 2010.

The Gershwin's fanciful depression-era musical Girl Crazy(1930)is the tale of a sophisticated New Yorker marooned in a dusty Western cowtown with no one who understands him but the Yiddish-speaking cabbie who brought him there and no one to love but the only woman within 50 miles.  The show gave birth to one of the all-time flashiest Broadway scores, featuring “I Got Rhythm,” “Embraceable You,” “But Not For Me” and “Boy! What Love Has Done To Me,” among others. The original production put a hot jazz band in the pit, led by cornet virtuoso Red Nichols, and included such jazz greats as Glenn Miller, Gene Krupa, Tommy Dorsey, Benny Goodman and Jack Teagarden. The resulting sound is a unique treat for theatergoers today, as each musician left a lasting impact on the show’s arrangements and orchestrations. Girl Crazy opened at the Alvin Theatre on October 14, 1930 and ran for 272 performances. The Encores! production will run November 19 – 22, 2009.

Fanny, based on Marcel Pagnol’s trilogy Marius, Fanny and Cesar and set in Marseille, is among Broadway’s greatest love stories – a tale of a young girl’s passion for a young man so in love with the sea that he leaves her, little realizing that she is pregnant with his child. Her marriage of convenience to a wealthy older man desperate to have an heir is complicated by the sailor’s return years later. Joshua Logan and S.N. Behrman provided an earthy book, and Harold Rome’s score contains some of the most ardent and sweeping melodies ever written for the theater, including the title song, “Restless Heart” and “Never Too Late For Love.” Oddly, the big hit single from the show in its day was the novelty tune “Be Kind to Your Parents.”  Fanny opened on November 4, 1954 at the Majestic Theater, starring Florence Henderson, Ezio Pinza and Walter Slezak (who won a Tony award for Best Actor in a Musical), and played for a total of 888 performances.  Fanny will run February 4 – 7, 2010.

Anyone Can Whistle, Stephen Sondheim and Arthur Laurents’ experimental satire of any and every target on the American cultural scene of the moment – conformity, psychology, race relations, greed, religion, politics – divided the critics, thrilled the emerging counter-culture, baffled the masses and closed quickly, becoming an instant legend that has grown over the years as Sondheim’s reputation has soared. The title song and “With So Little to Be Sure Of” have survived as cabaret classics, but the rarely-heard complete score is a riot of jazzy, show-biz razzmatazz, waltzes, gospel numbers and Broadway pastiche, as full of variety and surprise as the show that gave it birth. Anyone Can Whistle opened on Apr 4, 1964 at the Majestic Theatre, starring Angela Lansbury, Lee Remick  and Harry Guardino, directed by Arthur Laurents, and ran for a brief 12 previews and 9 performances.  Anyone Can Whistle will run April 8 – 11, 2010.

The Newman’s Own Foundation is a proud sponsor of Encores!  The Newman's Own Foundation is an independent, private foundation which derives its grant-making income from royalty payments received in conjunction with the sale of Newman's Own food products.  Since the inception of Newman's Own in the early 1980s, over $250 million has been donated to thousands of charitable organizations worldwide.

The season is also made possible, in part, by the Stephanie and Fred Shuman Fund for Encores!

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 others.  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. In 2004 New York City Center launched the acclaimed Fall for Dance Festival, continuing to fulfill its mission to make the arts accessible to the broadest possible audience. 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¸ starring Patti LuPone, which subsequently enjoyed a successful run on Broadway, and which was followed by this past summer’s Damn Yankees starring Sean Hayes and Jane Krakowski. This summer, Encores! Summer Stars will present The Wiz.

Tickets for the 2009-2010 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
2009-10 ENCORES! SEASON

Girl Crazy (November 19 – 22, 2009)
Opened at the Alvin Theatre on October 14, 1930 and ran for 272 performances.

Music and lyrics by George Gershwin and Ira Gershwin
Book by Guy Bolton and Jack McGowan

Fanny (February 4 – 7, 2010)
Opened at the Majestic Theater on Nov 4, 1954 and played for a total of 888 performances. 

A musical play by S. N. Behrman and Joshua Logan
Based on the Trilogy of Marcel Pagnol
Music and lyrics by Harold Rome

Anyone Can Whistle (April 8 – 11, 2010)
Opened at the Majestic Theatre on April 4, 1964, directed by Arthur Laurents and played for 12 previews and 9 performances. 

Book by Arthur Laurents
Music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim

The Wiz , the 1974  rock and soul musical based on the beloved L. Frank Baum story about Dorothy and her adventures in Oz, will be the third New York City Center Encores! Summer Stars production, running June 12 - July 3, 2009 at New York City Center, W. 55th Street between 6th & 7th Avenues.  The Wiz will be directed by Thomas Kail and choreographed by Andy Blankenbuehler, the duo who brought the Tony-Award winning In the Heights to Broadway last season. A June 18th opening is planned.

The Wiz has a book by William F. Brown, music and lyrics by Charlie Smalls and orchestrations by Harold Wheeler. The original production was directed by Geoffrey Holder and choreographed by George Faison. It won seven Tony Awards, including Best Musical, Best Score and Best Choreography. The Wiz is an all-black adaptation of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum, told from the African-American perspective. The original Broadway production of The Wiz opened at the Majestic Theatre on January 5, 1975, moved to the Broadway Theater on May 25, 1977, running for over four years for a total of 1,672 performances.  Stephanie Mills, Hinton Battle, Tiger Haynes, Ted Ross, Dee Dee Bridgewater and Andre De Shields starred.

Thomas Kail was nominated for Tony and Drama Desk Awards for his direction of In the Heights. Mr. Kail is artistic director and co-founder of Back House Productions (BHP), the resident theatre of New York City's The Drama Book Shop. BHP has developed many new works since its founding in 2001, including early versions of In the Heights and Anne Nelson's Savages. He also directs and co-created Freestyle Love Supreme, a hip-hop improv group that has performed in New York City, the Aspen Comedy and Edinburgh Fringe Festivals and the 2006 Melbourne Comedy Festival.

Andy Blankenbuehler won the Tony and Drama Desk Awards for his choreography of In the Heights.He is choreographer of the upcoming Broadway production of 9 to 5, and his work has also been seen in the Broadway revival of The Apple Tree (starring Kristin Chenoweth) and the West End musical Desperately Seeking Susan.  Mr. Blankenbuehler has staged concert work for Bette Midler, and he directed, choreographed and co-conceived the hit Caesars Palace production Nights on Broadway. Other recent work includes: A Little Princess (music by Andrew Lippa), Waiting for the Moon (music by Frank Wildhorn), Broadway by the Year: 1930, 1938 and 1978, and the City Center Encores! production of The Apple Tree.

Major support for Encores! Summer Stars has been provided by Roz and Jerry Meyer, Ruthe and Tony Ponturo and Stephanie and Fred Shuman.

Encores! Summer Stars, (Jack Viertel, Artistic Director) now in its third season, is an expanded version of City Center’s acclaimed Encores! series.  Summer Stars is dedicated to presenting Broadway classics in staged, limited-run productions. The previous Encores! Summer Stars productions were the critically-acclaimed Gypsy starring Patti LuPone, which was followed by last summer’s Damn Yankees starring Sean Hayes and Jane Krakowski.

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. In 2004 New York City Center launched the acclaimed Fall for Dance Festival, continuing to fulfill its mission to make the arts accessible to the broadest possible audience. In 2006, New York City Center formed partnerships with 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.

The Wiz will run June 12 – July 3.Tickets range from $25 - $110 and are available to New York City Center members beginning February 25, to Encores! subscribers on March 2,  and to the general public beginning March 9 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.

Jim Norton, Kate Baldwin and Cheyenne Jackson will star in Finian’s Rainbow, the final production of New York City Center’s 2008-09 Encores! season, running from March 26 – 29. Finian’s Rainbow has music by Burton Lane, lyrics by E.Y. Harburg and book by E. Y. Harburg and Fred Saidy and will be directed and choreographed by Warren Carlyle with music direction by Rob Berman. The musical will play five performances at City Center (West 55th Street between 6th and 7th Avenues).

Finian’s Rainbow is the story of the Irishman Finian McLonergan (Jim Norton), and his daughter Sharon (Kate Baldwin) who travel to a small Southern town 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. Harburg and Lane created one of Broadway’s greatest popular scores, including “How Are Things in Glocca Morra?,” “When I'm Not Near the Girl I Love (I Love the Girl I’m Near),” “That Old Devil Moon,” and “If This Isn’t Love.”

Finian’s Rainbow opened at the 46th Street Theatre on January 10, 1947 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 twice before – in 1955 and 1960, presented by the New York City Light Opera.).

Jim Norton (Finian) won Tony and Olivier Awards for his work in Conor McPherson's The Seafarer and previously appeared on Broadway in McPherson’s The Weir, for which he won the Olivier Award, England’s top theater honor.Mr. Norton’s many film credits include Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets and a leading role in Sam Peckinpaw’s Straw Dogs.  He can currently be seen in the film The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. Norton has recorded the whole of James Joyce's Ulysses for Naxos Audio.

Kate Baldwin’s (Sharon) Broadway credits include Wonderful Town, Thoroughly Modern Millie and The Full Monty.  She performed in Conversation with Stephen Sondheim at the Kravis Center in Florida.

Cheyenne Jackson (Woody) made his Broadway debut understudying both male leads in the Tony Award-winning musical Thoroughly Modern Millie. On and Off Broadway, Cheyenne has appeared in the Encores! production of Damn Yankees, Xanadu (Drama League, Drama Desk nominations), All Shook Up (Theater World Award, Drama League, Outer Critics Circle nomination) the premiere cast of Altar Boyz, Aida, The Cartells, On the 20th Century, and The 24 Hour Plays. His film and television credits include: the Academy Award nominated United 93, “Family Practice” ”Lipstick Jungle” ”Life on Mars” and “Ugly Betty.” This month Cheyenne made his solo nightclub debut at Feinstein’s at the Regency.

Rob Berman is currently in his second season as music director of Encores! where he has conducted productions of Stairway to Paradise, Applause, Music in the Air and the Encores! Summer Stars production of Damn Yankees. Broadway credits include Irving Berlin’s White Christmas, The Pajama Game, Wonderful Town and The Apple Tree.  Earlier this year he supervised and arranged the world premiere of The Gershwins’ An American In Paris.  Berman won a Helen Hayes Award for his musical direction of Sunday in the Park with George at the Kennedy Center. He is also music director of the Kennedy Center Honors Orchestra.

The Newman’s Own Foundation is a proud sponsor of Encores!  The Newman's Own Foundation is an independent private foundation which derives its grant-making income from royalty payments received in conjunction with the sale of Newman's Own food products.  Since the inception of Newman's Own in the early 1980s, over $200 million has been donated to thousands of charitable organizations worldwide.

The 2008-2009 Encores! season is made possible in part by the Stephanie and Fred Shuman Fund for Encores! with additional support from 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 others.  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. In 2004 New York City Center launched the acclaimed Fall for Dance Festival, continuing to fulfill its mission to make the arts accessible to the broadest possible audience. 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¸ which subsequently enjoyed a successful run on Broadway, and which was followed by this past summer’s Damn Yankees starring Sean Hayes and Jane Krakowski.

FINIAN’S RAINBOW PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE
Thursday, March 26 at 8:00 pm
Friday, March 27 at 8:00 pm
Saturday, March 28 at 2:00 pm and 8:00 pm
Sunday, March 29 at 6:30 pm

Tickets for Finian’s Rainbow 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 are $95; tickets for the Rear Mezzanine and Front Gallery are $50; tickets for the Rear Gallery are $25.

KRISTIN CHENOWETH JOINS CAST OF MUSIC IN THE AIR
WITH DOUGLAS SILLS, DICK LATESSA, TOM ALAN ROBBINS, SIERRA BOGGESS & SALLY ANN HOWES
Released January 12, 2009

Tony Award-winning actress Kristin Chenoweth has joined the cast of Kern and Hammerstein’s Music in the Air, the second Encores! production of New York City Center’s 2008-09 season, running February 5-8.  (Ms. Chenoweth replaces the previously announced Marin Mazzie. Ms. Mazzie is no longer available due to the death of her father.) Music in the Air, a rarely seen 1932 musical, will be directed by Gary Griffin with music direction by Rob Berman and choreography by Michael Lichtefeld. The production runs for five performances at City Center, West 55th Street (between 6th and 7th Avenues).

In addition to Ms. Chenoweth, the cast includes Douglas Sills, Dick Latessa, Tom Alan Robbins, Sierra Boggess, Walter Charles, Anne L. Nathan, David Schramm, Ryan Silverman, Robert Stella and Sally Ann Howes.

Music in the Air, with music by Jerome Kern, book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II and orchestrations by Robert Russell Bennett, has been restored by the Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization and has not been seen in New York 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. A revised version had a brief revival at the Ziegfeld Theatre in 1951.

Music in the Air is a musical romance, with the wit and elegance of an Ernst Lubitsch film. It’s the story of a Bavarian music teacher (Robbins), his beautiful young daughter (Boggess), and the daughter’s suitor (Silverman), who travel to the big, bad city of Munich where they encounter a cast of self-involved, egotistical theater folk who promise them fame, fortune and romance. Kristin Chenoweth and Douglas Sills play a Diva (Chenoweth) and an operetta librettist (Sills) who take the young couple under their wings (and claws).  Songs include “I’ve Told Ev’ry Little Star” and “The Song Is You.”

Kristin Chenoweth received a Tony nomination for her work as Glinda in Stephen Schwartz's Wicked and a Tony Award for her performance as Sally in You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown.  Her other Broadway credits include Steel Pier and Epic Proportions, and Candide with The New York Philharmonic.  She has starred in the New York City Center Encores! productions of  Strike Up the Band, On a Clear Day You Can See Forever,  Stairway to Paradise and The Apple Tree (continuing with the show in its Broadway run.). Her television credits include next season’s “Legally Mad,” the new animated series “Sit Down Shut Up,”  “Ugly Betty,” “Kristin,” "The West Wing," "The Music Man" and “Pushing Daisies,” for which she garnered an Emmy Award nomination.  She has been seen on film in Four Christmases, The Pink Panther, Stranger Than Fiction, Deck the Halls and Running with Scissors. Her solo recordings include "Let Yourself Go," "As I Am" and the newly released "A Lovely Way to Spend Christmas."

Sierra Boggess made her Broadway debut when she originated the role of Ariel in the The Little Mermaid. Her previous credits include the roles of Christine in Andrew Lloyd Webber's Phantom - The Las Vegas Spectacular under Hal Prince’s direction, and Cosette in the national tour of Les Misérables.

Walter Charles made his Broadway debut in the original production of Grease. His additional Broadway credits include 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Sweeney Todd, Cats, La Cage aux Folles, Me and My Girl, Aspects of Love, Kiss Me, Kate, The Boys from Syracuse, Big River, The Woman in White, and The Apple Tree. Charles' screen credits include A Fine Mess, Fletch Lives, Weeds, and Prancer.He appeared in the Encores! production of Call Me Madam. 

Sally Ann Howes made her Broadway debut in 1957, when she took over the role of Eliza Doolittle from Julie Andrews in My Fair Lady to great acclaim.  Her subsequent Broadway appearances include a brief run in the 1961 musical Kwamina, written by her husband, Richard Adler, which centered on an interracial love story and was considered too controversial for its time. In 1962, she starred in a short revival of the musical Brigadoon at the New York City Opera, garnering a Tony nomination, the first performer to be nominated for a revival performance. In 1964 she starred on Broadway opposite Robert Alda and Steve Lawrence in What Makes Sammy Run?  She appeared on many television shows of the 50s and 60s, including “Perry Como,” “Dinah Shore,” “Jack Parr” and “The Tonight Show.” She appeared on “The Ed Sullivan Show” four times. She appeared in many films, but is best known for her portrayal of Truly Scrumptious in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

Dick Latessa won both the Tony and Drama Desk Awards for Best Featured Actor in a Musical for his performance in Hairspray.  His many other theater credits include Cabaret, Damn Yankees, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Follies, Rags, The Cherry Orchard, Awake and Sing!, Broadway Bound, Brighton Beach Memoirs, Rumors and Chapter Two. Latessa's film credits include The Substance of Fire, Alfie, and Stigmata. He has appeared in numerous television movies, including Izzy and Moe, The Trial of Bernhard Goetz, and Pudd'nhead Wilson, and primetime series such as “Get Smart,” “Mission: Impossible,” “Ironside,” “Spenser: For Hire,” “The Sopranos,” “Ed,” and “Law & Order.”
Anne L. Nathan  has appeared on Broadway in Sunday in the Park with George, Assassins, Thoroughly Modern Millie,  Ragtime and Chicago.

Tom Alan Robbins’ Broadway credits include Pumbaa in The Lion King, Sunset Boulevard, Jerome Robbins’ Broadway, The Threepenny Opera and Once Upon a Mattress. Off-Broadway, he has appeared in On the Verge, Isn’t It Romantic, The Rise and Rise of Daniel Rocket, The Cradle Will Rock and the Shakespeare Festival’s Henry V. His previous Encores! credits include Tenderloin and Pardon My English.

Douglas Sills made his Broadway debut as Percy in The Scarlet Pimpernel, earning Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle nominations as well as a Theatre World Award for his performance, and portrayed Orin Scrivello D.D.S. in Little Shop of Horrors. He starred at the Kennedy Center in A Little Night Music and Mack and Mabel; the national tours of The Scarlet Pimpernel, The Secret Garden and Into the Woods; and the Los Angeles premiere of Chess. Sills appeared in Moonlight and Magnolias at Manhattan Theatre Club and in numerous regional theater productions.  His TV credits include "Murphy Brown," "Sisters," "Coach" and "Party of Five," and he appeared in the Encores! production of Carnival.

Ryan Silverman’s credits include the lead in the word premiere of the new musical Carmen at the La Jolla Playhouse and Andrew Lloyd Webber's Phantom - The Las Vegas Spectacular. His New York credits include Pirates of Penzance and Most Happy Fella at NY City Opera. His many national and international tour credits include Wicked, Mamma Mia, West Sideand Thoroughly Modern Millie.

David Schramm’s many Broadway credits include London Assurance, Tartuffe, The Misanthrope, Bedroom Farce and The Robber Bridegroom.  He is best known to television viewers for his role as Roy Biggins, in the series “Wings.”

Michael Lichtefeld has choreographed five Broadway musicals, including The Secret Garden, The Sound of Music and Sweeney Todd. He was nominated as best choreographer for The Drama Desk Award, The L.A. Ovation Award, and three Outer Critics Circle Awards. He choreographed six Off-Broadway musicals and his national and international tours have played all over the world.

Gary Griffin made his Broadway debut with The Color Purple and his production of Pacific Overtures was seen at London's Donmar Warehouse and received the Olivier Award for Outstanding Musical Production. He is associate artistic director of Chicago Shakespeare Theatre where he has directed A Little Night Music and Sunday in the Park with George. His production of My Fair Lady played both the McCarter Theatre and Hartford Stage after its debut at Chicago's Court Theatre. Griffin has received eight Joseph Jefferson Awards for directing and has twice been named a "Chicagoan of the Year in the Arts" by the Chicago Tribune. Griffin’s previous Encores! credits include The Apple Tree (and the subsequent Broadway production),  A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Pardon My English  and The New Moon.

Rob Berman is currently in his second season as music director of Encores! where he has conducted productions of Stairway to Paradise, Applause, and the Encores! Summer Stars production of Damn Yankees. Other Broadway credits include Irving Berlin’s White Christmas, The Pajama Game, Wonderful Town and The Apple Tree.  Earlier this year he supervised and arranged the world premiere of The Gershwins’ An American In Paris.  Berman won a Helen Hayes Award for his musical direction of Sunday in the Park with George at the Kennedy Center. He is also music director of the Kennedy Center Honors Orchestra.

The Newman’s Own Foundation is a proud sponsor of Encores!  The Newman's Own Foundation is an independent private foundation which derives its grant-making income from royalty payments received in conjunction with the sale of Newman's Own food products.  Since the inception of Newman's Own in the early 1980s, over $200 million has been donated to thousands of charitable organizations worldwide.

The 2008-2009 Encores! season is made possible in part by the Stephanie and Fred Shuman Fund for Encores! with additional support from 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 others.  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. In 2004 New York City Center launched the acclaimed Fall for Dance Festival, continuing to fulfill its mission to make the arts accessible to the broadest possible audience. 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, which was followed by this past summer’s Damn Yankees starring Sean Hayes and Jane Krakowski.

Andrea Martin, Michael Cumpsty and Tony Yazbeck have been cast in On the Town , the opening production of New York City Center’s 2008-09 Encores! season, running November 19 - 23.On the Town, the first Broadway musical written by Betty Comden and Adolph Green with a score by Leonard Bernstein,will be directed by JohnRando with music direction by Todd Ellison and choreography by Warren Carlyle. The production is part of the city-wide Leonard Bernstein 90 th Birthday Celebration.

On the Town, with music by Leonard Bernstein and book and lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green based on an idea by Jerome Robbins, was inspired by Robbins’ 1944 ballet, “Fancy Free.” Although much of the original choreography has been lost, Robbins did restage three numbers for Jerome Robbins’ Broadway in 1989. Carlyle will reproduce the original Robbins’ choreography for three numbers: “ New York, New York,” “Ya Got Me,” and “Times Square Ballet.” Scott Wise, who won the Tony Award for his performance in Jerome Robbins’ Broadway, will assist Mr. Carlyle in reconstructing the choreography.

The cast includes Justin Bohon, Christian Borle, Michael Cumpsty, Jessica Lee Goldyn, Leslie Kritzer, Andrea Martin, Julyana Soelistyo, Jennifer Laura Thompson and Tony Yazbeck, with Lawrence Alexander, Andrea Beasom, Kristine Bendul, Tanya Birl, Angie Canuel, John Carroll, Rachel Coloff, Michael Cusumano, Susan Derry, Emilee Dupre, Autumn Hurlbert, Ryan Jackson, Mary MacLeod, Monica L. Patton, Adam Perry, Steve Schepis, Geno Segers, Charlie Sutton, Kevin Vortmann, Price Waldman, J.D. Webster and Ashley Yeater.

Set in wartime 1944, On the Town chronicles the adventures of three sailors (Justin Bohon, Christian Borle and Tony Yazbeck) on a 24-hour shore 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, directed by George Abbott and 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 Gershwin Theatre in 1998. Songs from On the Town include “ New York, New York,” “Some Other Time,” and “I Can Cook, Too.”

This production is part of Bernstein:The Best of All Possible Worlds, a partnership with Carnegie Hall and the New York Philharmonic. For more information, visit bernsteinfestival.org. On the Town is made possible with major support from the Joseph S. and Diane H. Steinberg Charitable Trust.

Justin Bohon (Chip)received Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle nominations for his role as Will Parker in the recent Broadway revival of Oklahoma! He has also appeared on Broadway in All Shook Up, The Producers andMiss Saigon.

Christian Borle (Ozzie) received 2007 Tony, Drama Desk and Drama League Award nominations for his work in Legally Blonde.  His other Broadway credits include Spamalot (Clarence Derwent Award, Drama Desk nomination), Thoroughly Modern Millie, Amour, Footloose andJesus Christ Superstar. Off-Broadway, he has been seen in: Elegies: A Song Cycle by William Finn at Lincoln Center, and Prodigal at the York.

Michael Cumpsty’s ( Pitkin W. Bridgework) many Broadway theater credits include La Bête, Timon of Athens, The Heiress, 1776, Copenhagen, 42nd Street, and The Constant Wife. Most recently, Cumpsty played the title role in a Classic Stage Company production of Richard III.

Jessica Lee Goldyn (Ivy) made her Broadway debut in the recent revival of A Chorus Line . Her national and international tour credits include Fosse, A Chorus Line, Sweet Charity and Pippin.

Leslie Kritzer ( Hildy Esterhazy) appeared on Broadway in A Catered Affair, Hairsprayand Legally Blonde. Off-Broadway she received a Drama Desk nomination for her performance in The Great American Trailer Park Musical and was seen in Bat Boyand Godspell, and her regional credits include Vanities and Babes in Arm s. She played Rizzo in Grease and Fanny Brice in Funny Girlat Paper Mill Playhouse. Leslie was awarded a 2007 Special Achievement MAC Award for her show Leslie Kritzer Is Patti LuPone At Les Mouches.

Andrea Martin (Madame P. Dilly) made her Broadway debut in My Favorite Year, for which she won the Theatre World and Drama Desk Awards. She received Tony Award nominations for her performances in Young Frankenstein, Candide and Oklahoma! and she portrayed Golde in the recent revival of Fiddler on the Roof . Andrea wrote and performed in the critically acclaimed one-woman show Nude, Nude, Totally Nude in Los Angeles and New York City, where she garnered a 1996 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding One-Person Show.

Julyana Soelistyo ( Lucy Schmeeler) won a Clarence Derwent Award and was nominated for a Tony Award, for her portrayal of both the 10-year -old and the 80-year-old Eng Ahn in David Henry Hwang’s Golden Child, which premiered at the Public Theater before moving to Broadway. Julyana has appeared in the films Earthly Possessions and Martin Scorsese's Bringing Out The Dead.

Jennifer Laura Thompson ( Claire DeLoone) made her Broadway debut in Footloose. She also originated the role of Hope Cladwell in both the off-Broadway and Broadway productions of Urinetown, garnering a Tony Award nomination. On Broadway, she portrayed Glinda in Wicked, and her off Broadway credits include the lead role in the Michael John LaChiusa musical, Little Fish. Her previous Encores! credits include Of Thee I Sing, Pardon My English and Strike Up the Band.

Tony Yazbeck (Gabey)originated the role of Tulsa in the Encores!Summer Stars production of Gypsy, currently playing on Broadway. His additional Broadway credits include A Chorus Line , Oklahoma!, Never Gonna Dance and Gypsy (with Tyne Daly). He has appeared Off-Broadway in Fanny Hill and three Encores! productions: Pardon My English, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn and The Apple Tree.

John Rando ’s (Director) Broadway credits include The Wedding Singer and Urinetown (Tony Award for Best Director), The Dinner Party and A Thousand Clowns. His other credits include Polish Joke at Manhattan Theatre Club. He was director of this past summer’s Encores!Summer Stars production of Damn Yankees. His previous Encores! credits include, Face the Music, Strike Up the Band, Do Re Mi,The Pajama Game and Of Thee I Sing.

Warren Carlyle (Choreographer) choreographed the Encores! productions of Juno and Stairway to Paradise, and is the director-choreographer of the current Broadway production of A Tale of Two Cities. His other New York credits include You Again for the NY Fringe Festival, Working and Slut! Regionally he has choreographed Mame at The Kennedy Center, The Pirates of Penzance at Goodspeed and Paper Mill Playhouse and The Baker’s Wife at Goodspeed, among many others.

Todd Ellison’s (Guest Music Director) many Broadway c redits include Spamalot, 42nd Street, Amour, Wild Party, On the Town, Once Upon A Mattress, How to Succeed…, She Loves Me, Cats, Starlight Express, Annie 2 and The Radio City Christmas Spectacular.

On the Town is made possible with major support from the Joseph S. and Diane H. Steinberg Charitable Trust.

The Newman’s Own Foundation is a proud sponsor of Encores!  The Newman's Own Foundation is an independent private foundation which derives its grant-making income from royalty payments received in conjunction with the sale of Newman's Own food products.  Since the inception of Newman's Own in the early 1980s, over $200 million has been donated to thousands of charitable organizations worldwide.

The 2008-2009 Encores! season is made possible in part by the Stephanie and Fred Shuman Fund for Encores! with additional support from Roz and Jerry Meyer.

New York City CenterEncores! (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 others. 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. In 2004 New York City Center launched the acclaimed Fall for Dance Festival, continuing to fulfill its mission to make the arts accessible to the broadest possible audience. 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 enjoying a successful run on Broadway, which was followed by this past summer’s Damn Yankees starring Sean Hayes and Jane Krakowski.

Tickets for On the Town are available at the New York City Center Box Office ( West 55 th 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 are $95; tickets for the Rear Mezzanine and Front Gallery are $50; tickets for the Rear Gallery are $25.

New York, NY, August 6, 2008 -- New York City Center ’s 2008-09 season begins on September 17 with the fifth annual Fall for Dance Festival, featuring 28 companies from across the country and around the world for a price of only $10 per ticket. The season also includes the second season of acclaimed choreographer Christopher Wheeldon’s dance company Morphoses/The Wheeldon Company and resident company Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater’s 50 th Anniversary celebration. Resident companies American Ballet Theatre and the Paul Taylor Dance Company along with visiting companies San Francisco Ballet and Miami City Ballet will present New York seasons. Manhattan Theatre Club will present two world premieres and a New York premiere. Highlights also include the sixteenth season of New York City Center’s Encores! series, opening on November 19 with On the Town, part of the city-wide Bernstein Festival.

The complete schedule of the 2008-09 season is as follows:

FALL FOR DANCE FESTIVAL
September 17 - 27

The fifth annual Fall for Dance Festival, which will run from September 17 – 27, 2008, showcasing 28 national and international companies and choreographers in six unique programs (four programs will be repeated). All tickets will once again be sold for only $10 for all seats, making a night of dance more affordable than a night at the movies. Tickets will go on sale Sunday, September 7 at 11:00 am.

City Center ’s Fall for Dance Festivalhas received national and international recognition for its quality, innovation and success in introducing new and younger audiences to the world of dance. The 2008 Festival will feature a wide range of dance styles and traditions, ranging from hula and tap to Indian Odissi, and Thai Khon, as well as ballet and modern dance companies from across the United States and around the world, many appearing in New York for the first time.

Tickets: $10
Press: Helene Davis, (212) 354-7436

MORPHOSES/THE WHEELDON COMPANY
October 1 - 5
New York City Center will present the second annual season of Morphoses/The Wheeldon Company, October 1 – 5, 2008, featuring works by Artistic Director Christopher Wheeldon, including a U.S. premiere co-commissioned by New York City Center and Sadler’s Wells Theatre, London. Also featured will be a U.S. premiere of a new work by Canadian choreographer Emily Molnar as well as works by Lightfoot León and Sir Frederick Ashton.

The company will perform to live music each evening, including performances with full orchestra comprised of members of the Orchestra of St. Luke’s. Leading dancers from major U.S. and European ballet companies will once again join the company, including Tyler Angle, Leanne Benjamin, Gonzalo Garcia, Craig Hall, Maria Kowroski, Edwaard Liang, Tiler Peck, Teresa Reichlen, Edward Watson, Wendy Whelan and others.

Tickets: $30, $50, $95, $110
Press: Helene Davis, (212) 354-7436

SAN FRANCISCO BALLET
October 10 – 18
Celebrating its 75th Anniversary, San Francisco Ballet, returns to New York City Center for three diverse programs, performed to live orchestral accompaniment. The company will present works by George Balanchine and Helgi Tomasson, plus New York premieres of select works from San Francisco Ballet's highly acclaimed New Works Festival by choreographers Mark Morris, Christopher Wheeldon, Jorma Elo, Val Caniparoli, and Yuri Possokhov.

Tickets: $30, $60, $85, $110
Press: Kyra Jablonsky, (415) 865-6603

AMERICAN BALLET THEATRE
October 21 – November 2
This fall American Ballet Theatre celebrates the 100th birthday of one of its founding fathers, choreographer Antony Tudor, by showcasing six of his masterworks as well as seven ballets by his contemporaries and a new generation of choreographers who have carried on Tudor's work.

Tickets: $25, $40, $65, $80, $95, $110
Press: Kelly Ryan, (212) 477-3030 x 3235

CAREER TRANSITION FOR DANCERS ANNUAL GALA
ON BROADWAY – A Glittering Salute to the American Musical
October 27
Honoring Sono Osato, Brian Heidtke and Tommy Tune
Appearances by Mikhail Baryshnikov, Bebe Neuwirth, Noah Racey and Karen Ziemba

Hosted by ANGELA LANSBURY – four-time Tony Award-winning musical actress and legendary star of film and television – this spectacular evening will highlight show-stopping moments from Broadway musicals old and new, including Oklahoma, The Pajama Game, West Side Story, A Chorus Line, 42nd Street, In The Heights, and other surprises. Broadway’s top talents and renowned dance companies will perform with the Jubilee Orchestra, and film clips from some of Broadway’s greatest musicals will be shown.

Tickets: $45, $55, $75, $130 (Show Only)
Press: Kevin P. McAnarny (212) 581-3836

LAR LUBOVITCH DANCE COMPANY
November 5-9, 2008
The Lar Lubovitch Dance Company’s 40th anniversary season will feature several works from the company’s prolific history (1969-2008) spread over two programs, including Lubovitch’s newest work Jangle (2008), which will be given its first full production this fall incorporating costumes by Tony Award-winning costume designer Ann Hould-Ward. The season also includes Lubovitch’s acclaimed Concerto Six Twenty-Two (1986), Whirligogs (1969), North Star (1978), Men's Stories (2000), Little Rhapsodies (2007), and Dvořák Serenade (2007). Members of Julliard’s senior dance class will perform in both Whirligogs and North Star.

Tickets: Starting at $25
Press: Janet Stapleton, (212) 633-0016

ENCORES! ON THE TOWN
Nov. 19 – 23
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. On the Town 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.

This production is part of Bernstein: The Best of All Possible Worlds, a partnership with Carnegie Hall and the New York Philharmonic. For more information, visit bernsteinfestival.org.

Tickets: $25, $50, $95
Press: Helene Davis, (212) 354-7436

ALVIN AILEY AMERICAN DANCE THEATER
Dec. 3, 2008 – Jan. 4, 2009
The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater’s 50th anniversary season will feature two world premiere pieces: a new work by Mauro Bigonzetti, one of Europe’s most inventive choreographers, and collaboration between AAADT and Sweet Honey in the Rock. Performing live onstage with the Ailey dancers, the Grammy Award-winning female a cappella ensemble will match their soulful harmonies and intricate rhythms to company member Hope Boykin’s powerful choreography. Ailey will also reach into its rich choreographic past with acclaimed works and revivals, including “Ailey and Ellington: A Jazz Celebration with Wynton Marsalis,” major new productions of works from the collaboration between Alvin Ailey and Duke Ellington, featuring six live performances by Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra. Other revivals will include Alvin Ailey’s masterpieces Blues Suite and Masekela Langage and George Faison’s classic Suite Otis (with music by Otis Redding).

Tickets: Starting at $25
Press: Christopher Zunner, 212-405-9028

MIAMI CITY BALLET
Jan. 21 – 25, 2009
The internationally-acclaimed Miami City Ballet, under the artistic direction of former New York City Ballet superstar Edward Villella, makes its Manhattan debut at New York City Center with two dynamic programs. The first features Balanchine and Tharp classics – the second Balanchine masterworks.

Tickets: $25, $35, $65, $85, $110
Press: Nicolle Ugarriza, 305-929-7000, ext. 1602

ENCORES! MUSIC IN THE AIR
Feb. 5 – 8
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.

Tickets: $25, $50, $95
Press: Helene Davis, (212) 354-7436

World Music Institute & Flamenco Festival Inc. present
NEW YORK FLAMENCO FESTIVAL
February 19 – 22
The flamenco event of the season featuring dancers and musicians direct from Andalucia, Spain!

Press: Helene Browning, (212) 545-7536

PAUL TAYLOR DANCE COMPANY
Feb. 25 – March 15, 2009
Paul Taylor Dance Company returns with two New York premieres including Changes, which revisits the conflict and energy of the 1960s through the songs of the iconic folk/rock group, The Mamas and The Papas. This year also marks the long-anticipated return of Scudorama, a jarring, edgy and powerful piece which has not been performed at City Center in 40 years. Additional works this season include Arden Court, ...Byzantium, Danbury Mix, De Sueños (of dreams), De Sueños que se Repiten (of recurring dreams), Esplanade, Eventide, Funny Papers, Images, Last Look, Le Sacre du Printemps (The Rehearsal), Mercuric Tidings, Offenbach Overtures, Private Domain, Promethean Fire, and The Sorcerer's Sofa.

Tickets: $10, $25, $35, $55, $75, $95, $135
Press: Lisa Labrado, (212) 704-9727

ENCORES! FINIAN’S RAINBOW
Mar. 26 – 29, 2009
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, 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.). Songs include “How Are Things in Glocca Morra?,” “When I'm Not Near the Girl I Love,” and “If This Isn’t Love.”

Tickets: $25, $50, $95
Press: Helene Davis, (212) 354-7436

EIFMAN BALLET
May 29 – 31, 2009
Eifman Ballet has revolutionized the concept of classical dance in Russia by taking the art of ballet to its highest – and most modern – level of expressiveness. Widely considered Russia's greatest living choreographer, Boris Eifman brings a new ballet to New York City Center based on Pushkin’s classic romance, “Eugene Onegin,” to music by Tchaikovsky and Sitkovetsky.

Press: Sergei Danilian, (212) 399-0002

MANHATTAN THEATRE CLUB
For more than three decades, Manhattan Theatre Club has been the creative and artistic home for America's most gifted theatrical artists, producing works of the highest quality by both established and emerging American and international playwrights. New York and world premieres created under MTC's auspices travel across America and the world. MTC's plays and musicals challenge, inspire, entertain and provoke audiences.

Stage I:
Romantic Poetry
Previews begin October 1, 2008

Ruined
Previews begin January 21, 2009

Stage II:
Back Back Back
Previews begin October 30, 2008

Stage II – Show 2
February

Please visit www.manhattantheatreclub.com for complete season details.
Press: Aaron Meier, Jim Bik, (212) 575-3030

Tickets for all New York City Center events can be purchased by calling CityTix® at 212-581-1212, online at www.nycitycenter.org or at the City Center Box Office (West 55th Street between 6th and 7th Avenues). For more information, please visit www.nycitycenter.org

Arlene Shuler, President and CEO of New York City Center, today announced the schedule for the fifth annual Fall for DanceFestival, which will run from September 17 – 27, 2008, showcasing 28 national and international companies and choreographers in six unique programs (four programs will be repeated). Tickets will once again be sold for only $10 for all seats, making a night of dance more affordable than a night at the movies. Tickets will go on sale Sunday, September 7 at 11:00 am.

City Center ’s Fall for Dance Festivalhas received national and international recognition for its quality, innovation and success in introducing new and younger audiences to the world of dance. The 2008 Festival will feature a wide range of dance styles and traditions, ranging from hula and tap to Indian Odissi and Thai Khon, as well as ballet and modern dance companies from across the United States and around the world, many appearing in New York for the first time.

“With this fifth season, the Fall for Dance Festival will have presented 133 different dance companies to more than 100,000 dance enthusiasts, all for the incredibly low price of $10,” said Arlene Shuler . “We are proud to showcase up-and-coming artists along with world-renowned dance companies to a new and growing generation of dance lovers. Newcomers and aficionados alike now look forward to the Festival as both an introduction to new companies and a welcome return to familiar and beloved artists.”

New York City Center gratefully acknowledges the continued leadership support of Time Warner and Time Warner Cable, NYC Region , which has been a lead supporter of the Festival since its inception. "As a media company, we believe that the arts should be accessible to everyone." said Lisa M. Quiroz, Time Warner's Senior Vice President of Corporate Responsibility. "Through our community investment programs we've made a substantial commitment to broadening public access to the arts. Our Fall for Dance partnership with City Center truly helps bring that commitment to life."

New York City Center also recognizes the extraordinary leadership support of The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation which inaugurated an endowment to ensure the future stability of the annual Fall for Dance Festival. Additional endowment funding has been received from The Peter Jay Sharp Foundation, The Rockefeller Brothers Fund and an anonymous donor.

City Center also gratefully acknowledges Michelob Ultra, the Sponsor of Lounge FFD.

ACROSS THE COUNTRY AND AROUND THE WORLD
The 2008 Festival celebrates the creativity of young choreographers on the rise, as well as the vitality and diversity of dance throughout the United States and around the globe. Exciting young companies and choreographersinclude Ayodele Casel & Sarah Savelli,Keigwin + Company, The Lombard Twins, Crystal Pite, Hofesh Shechter, Richard Siegal and Kate Weare.

International companies and artists include Richard Siegal/TheBakery of Paris; [bjm_danse] Les Ballets Jazz de Montr é al; BeijingDance / LDTX of China; Compa ñ ia Nacional de Danza, Artistic Director Nacho Duato of Spain; Hofesh Shechter Company of Israel and the UK; LAFA & Artists Dance Company of Taiwan; Louise Lecavalier of Canada; The Lombard Twins of Argentina; Madhavi Mudgal of India; The National Ballet of Canada; Pichet Klunchun Dance Company of Thailand, Talia Paz of Israel and Sharon Wray from the UK.

Acclaimed American companies and choreographers include Aspen Santa Fe Ballet, Dayton Contemporary Dance Company, Garth Fagan Dance, The Gentlemen of H ä lau N ä Kamalei, Houston Ballet, Merce Cunningham Dance Company, Oregon Ballet Theatre, San Francisco Ballet , Shen Wei Dance Arts and The Suzanne Farrell Ballet.

New York City Center resident companies will be represented by American Ballet Theatre and Paul Taylor Dance Company. Oregon Ballet Theatre will present an excerpt from a ballet by Christopher Wheeldon, the artistic director of City Center’s guest resident company, Morphoses/The Wheeldon Company.

TEN NIGHTS, SIX UNIQUE PROGRAMS
The Festival will open on Wednesday, September 17 (program repeated Thursday, September 18) with New York-based Shen Wei Dance Arts performing excerpts from Map (2005), with music by Steve Reich. Making its New York debut, the Pichet Klunchun Dance Company of Thailand will present the world premiere of Chui Chai, a piece that combines traditional Thai classical dance with contemporary hip-hop sensibility. Keigwin + Company will follow with Fire, an excerpt from artistic director/choreographer Larry Keigwin’s new work, Elements. The National Ballet of Canada’sSoldiers’ Mass, choreographed by Ji ří Kyli á n in 1980 and set to the music of Czech composer Bohuslav Martinů, will end the evening.

Merce Cunningham Dance Company opens the second program of the Festival on Friday, September 19 with Sounddance, first performed in 1975 with Merce Cunningham in the lead. [On an interesting note, Sounddance was first revived at New York City Center in 1994.] It will be followed by the Dayton Contemporary Dance Company’s acclaimed reconstruction ofAsadata Dafora’s 1932 Awassa Astrige/Ostrich, with music by Carl Riley. American Ballet Theatre, one of City Center’s resident companies, presents a pas de deux from Antony Tudor’s1975classicTheLeaves Are Fading, set to the music of Antonin Dvorak. French-Canadian contemporary dancer Louise Lecavalier performs an excerpt from Lone Epic , a solo piece choreographed for her in 2006 by the young Canadian choreographer Crystal Pite, set to selections from Bernard Herrmann’s score for the film Citizen Kane. The evening ends with Ayodele Casel, Sarah Savelli& Dancersperforming excerpts from their joyous 2007 tap piece, Wonderland, music by Stevie Wonder.

[bjm_danse] Les Ballets Jazz de Montr é al opens the program on Saturday, September 20 (program repeated Sunday, September 21) with an excerpt from Aszure Barton’s Les Chambres des Jacques (2006). This will be followed by Oregon Ballet Theatre presenting the pas de deux from Christopher Wheeldon’s RUSH (2003), set to music by Bohuslav Martinů, and t he world premiere of Odissi: PRAVAHA, a new work by Indian choreographer Madhavi Mudgal, one of India’s leading classical dancers and a world-renowned exponent of the Odissi style of dance. Sheron Wray follows with Jane Dudley’s 1938 landmark work, Harmonica Breakdown, set to blues music by Sonny Terry and Oh Red. An excerpt from young Israeli choreographer Hofesh Shechter’s 2006 work, Uprising, performed by the Hofesh Shechter Company, will end the evening. Shechter choreographed the piece for seven men and composed the percussive score as well.

The second week of the Festival opens on Tuesday, September 23 (program repeated Wednesday, September 24)withthe New York debut of BeijingDance / LDTX, China’s cutting edge dance company, presentingan excerpt from The Cold Dagger (2006). Houston Ballet presents George Balanchine’s 1960 Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux followed by Paris-based choreographer Richard Siegal and his company Richard Siegal/The Bakery presenting the U.S. premiere of The New 45 (2006), a suite of dances for Ayman Harper and Mario Zambrano, featuring music by Oscar Peterson and Clark Terry. From Taiwan comes LAFA & Artists Dance Company, making its first New York appearance with Single Room (2002), a solo performed by Fang-Yi Sheu, one of its founders and a former principal dancer with The Martha Graham Company. The evening ends with Kahikilani(2005),performed by The Gentlemen of Hal ä u N ä Kamalei , a native hula company from Hawaii, led by master hula teacher Robert Uluwehi Cazimero.

Thursday, September 25 begins with the New York debut of The Suzanne Farrell Ballet performing George Balanchine’s rarely-seen Pithoprakta, with music by Greek composer Iannis Xenakis. Restored in 2007 by Ms. Farrell as part of the company’s Balanchine Preservation Initiative, Pithoprakta was originally choreographed in 1968 for Ms. Farrell. Israel-based choreographer Talia Paz will dance an excerpt from Love, a solo choreographed in 2004 by Sharon Eyal. From Argentina come TheLombard Twins,youngdance wizards and choreographers, performing the world premiere of Lombard Play Piazzolla – The Dance Concert, their interpretation of Astor Piazzolla’s compositions. The piece was inspired by street dance and hip-hop and features live music.The Kate Weare Company, based in NYC and Oakland, follows with the world premiere of The Light Has Not the Arms to Carry Us, choreographed by Ms. Weare. Garth Fagan Dance returns to City Center with Fagan’s classic From Before (1978), which pays homage to African and Caribbean dance and ancestry.

On Friday, September 26, the Jerome Robbins Foundation will present The Jerome Robbins Award for excellence in the dance arts to Twyla Tharp and San Francisco Ballet at a dinner to be held earlier that evening.  In addition, New York City Center will receive the inaugural Floria V. Lasky Award.  Prior to the performance, there will be a brief onstage tribute to Mr. Robbins and the winners.

The final program of the Festival, on Friday, September 26 (repeated Saturday, September 27) pays tribute to the Robbins Award winners and Mr. Robbins .  The evenings will open with Twyla Tharp’s 1996 Sweet Fields, set to nineteenth-century hymns in the Shaker vein, performed by Aspen Santa Fe Ballet, followed by San Francisco Ballet performing Jerome Robbins’ 1970 In the Night. The second half of the program will feature the Compañia Nacional de Danza,Artistic Director Nacho Duato , from Spain,with Duato’s 1989 Cor Perdut , a haunting pas de deux based on a Catalan love song. City Center resident company Paul Taylor Dance Company will bring the Festival to a close with a performance of their classic life-affirming piece from 1975, Esplanade.

Ellen Dennis serves as Producer and Wendy Perron as Artistic Advisor to the New York City CenterFall for Dance Festival.

FESTIVAL LOUNGE
Lounge FFD appears only once each year, during the Fall for Dance Festival at New York City Center. For each Fall for Dance performance, the public atrium between 55th and 56th Streets (immediately west of the theater’s main entrance) is transformed into a vibrant gathering place for audience members and artists. Featuring music by a rotating roster of NYC DJs, Lounge FFD offers Festival attendees, performers and neighborhood friends a place to relax and mingle, share a cocktail and have a snack, before and after the show – as well as during intermission – while video monitors throughout the Lounge follow the action onstage.

Lounge FFD is open to the general public as well as to Festival artists and attendees.  No tickets are required and everyone is welcome.

Michelob Ultra is the sponsor of Lounge FFD and the official beer of the Fall for Dance Festival.

NEW YORK CITY CENTER has long been known and beloved by New York audiences not only as one of the City’s preeminent performing arts 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 a partnership with London’s Sadler’s Wells Theatre to facilitate the exchange of innovative dance works. In 2007 New York City Center introduced the Encores! Summer Stars series with the critically-acclaimed production of Gypsy, which was followed by the 2008 hit, Damn Yankees.

NEW YORK CITY CENTER FALL FOR DANCE FESTIVAL runs Wednesday, September 17 through Saturday, September 27, 2008 at New York City Center ( West 55 th Street between 6th and 7th Avenues). All evening performances are at 8pm; Sunday afternoon performance at 3 pm. All tickets for the Fall for Dance Festival are $10 and go on sale on Sunday, September 7 at 11am. Tickets can be purchased by calling CityTix® at 212-581-1212, online at www.nycitycenter.org or at the City Center Box Office, ( West 55 th Street between 6th and 7th Avenues).

TWYLA THARP AND SAN FRANSISCO BALLET TO RECEIVE JEROME ROBBINS AWARD
NEW YORK CITY CENTER TO RECEIVE INAUGURAL FLORIA V. LASKY AWARD
Released July 23, 2008

Veanne Cox, Michael Mulheren and P.J. Benjamin will join Sean Hayes, Jane Krakowski, Cheyenne Jackson, Ana Gasteyer and Randy Graff in Damn Yankees, running
July 5 – 27, 2008 at New York City Center (55th Street between 6th & 7th Avenues). Damn Yankees will be directed by John Rando with Music Direction by Rob Berman and the original Bob Fosse choreography recreated by Mary MacLeod. A July 10 opening is planned.

Damn Yankees has music and lyrics by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross, book by George Abbott and Douglass Wallop and is based on Wallop's novel "The Year the Yankees Lost the Pennant." It is the story of Joe Boyd (P. J. Benjamin), the ultimate baseball fan, who sells his soul to the Devil (Sean Hayes) for the chance to help his team win the pennant race against the Yankees. The Devil is aided by the sexy Lola (Jane Krakowski), who seduces a now younger, physically transformed Joe (Cheyenne Jackson), but ultimately helps him outsmart the Devil and return to his beloved wife (Randy Graff).

Damn Yankees opened on Broadway at the 46th Street Theatre on May 5, 1955, and ran for 1019 performances, winning four Tony Awards, including Best Musical, Best Choreography (Bob Fosse), Best Actor (Ray Walton) and Best Actress (Gwen Verdon). Songs include "Heart" and "Whatever Lola Wants.”

The complete cast (as of June 5) is: Sean Hayes, Jane Krakowski, Cheyenne Jackson, Ana Gasteyer, Randy Graff, Michael Mulheren, Veanne Cox, P.J. Benjamin, Robert Creighton, Jimmy Smagula, Kathy Fitzgerald, John Horton, John Selya, with Nathan Balser, David Baum, Jimmy Ray Bennett, Rachel Coloff, Anderson Davis, Marya Grandy, Shannon Lewis, Jay Lusteck, Pamela Otterson, Adam Perry, Karine Plantadit, T. Oliver Reid, Jon Rua, Stacey Sargeant, Alexander Scheitinger, Chandra Lee Schwartz, Baron Vaughn and Cody Ryan. Wise.

Sean Hayes (Mr. Applegate) won an Emmy (and was nominated six times) for his portrayal of “Jack” on “Will & Grace.” He starred as Jerry Lewis in the television movie “The Martin & Lewis Story.” His films include Pieces of April, The Cat in the Hat (as the voice of the Fish), Billy’s Hollywood Screen Kiss, and Cats and Dogs (as the voice of Mr. Tinkles). He has won two Screen Actors Guild Awards, a TV Guide Award and an American Comedy Award.

Jane Krakowski (Lola) originated the role of “Dinah the Dining Car” in the 1987 Broadway production of Starlight Express. She was nominated for a Tony Award for her performance in Grand Hotel; won the Tony Award for the revival of Nine; played April in Company at the Roundabout Theatre; and appeared alongside Sarah Jessica Parker in the Broadway revival of Once Upon a Mattress. She starred on television in “Álly McBeal” and can currently be seen as Jenna Maroney on “30 Rock.”

Cheyenne Jackson (Joe Hardy) made his Broadway debut understudying both male leads in the Tony Award-winning musical Thoroughly Modern Millie. He later served as the standby for the character of Radames in Aida, then originated the role of Matthew in the off-Broadway production of Altar Boyz. He originated his first Broadway leading role in the musical tribute to Elvis Presley, All Shook Up. His performance as Chad earned him much critical praise and the Theatre World Award, as well as nominations from the Drama League and Outer Critics Circle Awards for Outstanding Lead Actor. In 2006, Jackson portrayed Mark Bingham in Universal Pictures' Academy-Award nominated film United 93. He also starred Off-Broadway in Nicky Silver's The Agony and The Agony with Victoria Clark. Jackson, who received a Drama Desk nomination as Best Actor for his starring role as Sonny in Broadway's Xanadu, will return to the production following the run of Damn Yankees.

Ana Gasteyer (Gloria) was a cast member of “Saturday Night Live” from 1998 – 2002. She appeared on Broadway as Elphaba in Wicked, as Mrs. Peachum in The Threepenny Opera and as Columbia in The Rocky Horror Show. Her off Broadway credits include Kimberly Akimbo at Manhattan Theatre Club and Passion (as Fosca) at Chicago Shakespeare Theater. She played Lindsay Lohan’s mother in the feature film Mean Girls, written by SNL castmate Tina Fey. She also appeared in Reefer Madness.

Randy Graff’s (Meg Hardy) many Broadway credits include leading roles in Les Miserables, City of Angels (Tony Award, Best Featured Actress), Laughter on the 23rd Floor, High Society, A Class Act, and Fiddler on the Roof.

John Rando’s broadway credits include The Wedding Singer and Urinetown (Tony Award for Best Director). His other New York credits include The Dinner Party, A Thousand Clowns and Polish Joke. His previous Encores! credits include Face the Music, Strike Up the Band, Do Re Mi, The Pajama Game and Of Thee I Sing.

Rob Berman is Music Director of the New York City Center Encores! series, where he has conducted and provided musical direction for Stairway to Paradise and Applause. He was the conductor of the Broadway revival of The Pajama Game and music director of the Kennedy Center Sondheim Celebration’s Sunday in the Park with George (Helen Hayes Award, Best Musical Direction). Berman is music supervisor of Irving Berlin's White Christmas and music director for the Kennedy Center Honors.

Mary MacLeod’s Broadway credits include Fosse, Seussical, Chicago, Company (Kathy), Guys & Dolls, Smokey Joe’s Café (Dance Captain/ASM). She appeared in the very first Encores! production of Fiorello, followed by Can-Can and Juno and was Associate Choreographer for Bye-Bye Birdie. Mary has assisted choreographers Robert Bianca, Chris Chadman, Joey McKneely, Casey Nicolaw, Peter Pucci, and Scott Wise. She teaches theatre dance all over the country.

This production is made possible in part by Stephanie and Fred Shuman Fund for Encores!
Budweiser is a proud sponsor of Damn Yankees.

Encores! Summer Stars, an expanded version of City Center’s acclaimed Encores! series, is dedicated to presenting more fully-realized productions of classic works of the American musical theater, and to giving leading actors the chance to play roles they were born to play. Its first production, the critically acclaimed Gypsy starring Patti LuPone, is currently having a successful run on Broadway.

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.

The landmark not-for-profit New York City Center was founded in 1943 by Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia as Manhattan's first performing arts center, and is now the annual New York City home to Alvin Ailey, American Dance Theater, American Ballet Theatre's fall season, Paul Taylor Dance Company, Morphoses/The Wheeldon Company and Manhattan Theatre Club. New York City Center is host to some of America's and the world's most acclaimed performers and productions, and the producer of the Tony-honored Encores! and Encores! Summer Stars series, and the annual Fall for Dance Festival.

Damn Yankees will run July 5 – 27. Please see chart below for July 5 – 11 performance schedule. Beginning July 12, the schedule is as follows: Tuesday and Sunday evenings at 7 pm, Wednesday – Saturday evenings at 8:00pm, and matinees on Saturday and Sunday at 2:00pm.Tickets for Damn Yankees 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 are $110 & 85; Mid-Mezzanine tickets are $50; tickets for the Rear Mezzanine are $25

Click Here for Tickets

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 90 th 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 8 th 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, 1947, 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 CenterEncores! 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.

DAMN YANKEES, starring Sean Hayes and Jane Krakowski, will be the second of New York City Center’s Encores! Summer Stars series, running July 5 – 27, 2008 at New York City Center, W. 55 th Street between 6 th & 7 th Avenues. Damn Yankees will be directed by John Rando with Music Direction by Rob Berman. A July 10 opening is planned.

Damn Yankees has a score by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross, a book by George Abbott and Douglass Wallop and is based on Wallop's novel "The Year the Yankees Lost the Pennant."

It is the story of Joe Boyd, the ultimate baseball fan, who sells his soul to the Devil (Sean Hayes) for the chance to help his team, the Washington Senators, win the pennant race against the Yankees. The Devil is aided by the sexy Lola (Jane Krakowski), who seduces Joe, but ultimately helps him outsmart the Devil and return to his beloved wife. Songs include "Heart" and "Whatever Lola Wants.”

The original Broadway production of Damn Yankees opened at the 46th Street Theatre on May 5, 1955, playing 1,019 performances. Directed by George Abbott with musical numbers staged by Bob Fosse, the original cast included Gwen Verdon and Ray Walston.

Sean Hayes won an Emmy (and was nominated six times) for his portrayal of “Jack” on “Will & Grace.” He starred as Jerry Lewis in the television movie “The Martin & Lewis Story.” His films include The Bucket List, Pieces of April, The Cat in the Hat (as the voice of the Fish), Billy’s Hollywood Screen Kiss, and Cats and Dogs (as the voice of Mr. Tinkles). He has won two Screen Actors Guild Awards, a TV Guide Award and an American Comedy Award.

Jane Krakowski originated the role of “ Dinah the Dining Car” in the 1987 Broadway production of Starlight Express. She was nominated for a Tony Award for her performance in Grand Hotel; won the Tony Award for the revival of Nine; played April in Company at the Roundabout Theatre; and appeared alongside Sarah Jessica Parker in the Broadway revival of Once Upon a Mattress. She starred on television in “Ally McBeal” and can currently be seen as Jenna Maroney on “30 Rock.”

John Rando’s Broadway credits include The Wedding Singer and Urinetown (Tony Award for Best Director). His other New York credits include The Dinner Party, A Thousand Clowns and Polish Joke. His previous Encores! credits include Face the Music, Strike Up the Band, Do Re Mi,The Pajama Game and Of Thee I Sing.

Rob Berman is Music Director of the New York City Center Encores! series, where he has conducted and provided musical direction for Stairway to Paradise and Applause. He was the conductor of the Broadway revival of The Pajama Game and music director of the Kennedy Center Sondheim Celebration’s Sunday in the Park with George (Helen Hayes Award, Best Musical Direction). Berman is music supervisor of Irving Berlin's White Christmas and music director for the Kennedy Center Honors.

Encores! Summer Stars, an expanded version of City Center’s acclaimed Encores! series, is dedicated to presenting more-fully realized classic works of the American musical theater, and to giving leading actors the chance to play roles they were born to play.

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.

The landmark not-for-profit New York City Center was founded in 1943 by Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia as Manhattan 's first performing arts center, and is now the annual New York City home to Alvin Ailey, American Dance Theater, American Ballet Theatre 's fall season, Paul Taylor Dance Company, Morphoses/The Wheeldon Company and Manhattan Theatre Club. New York City Center is host to some of America 's and the world 's most acclaimed performers and productions, and the producer of the Tony-honored Encores! and Encores! Summer Stars series, and the annual Fall for Dance Festival.

Tickets for Damn Yankees are available to members beginning April 11, to Encores! Subscribers on April 14 and to the general public beginning April 18 at the New York City Center Box Office (West 55th Street between 6th and 7th Avenues), through CityTix® at 212-581-1212, or online HERE. Tickets for the Orchestra, Grand Tier are $110 & 85; Mid-Mezzanine tickets are $50; tickets for the Rear Mezzanine and Gallery are $2