New York City Center 2016 Encores! Season announced

Tom Millward
Tom Millward

The New York City Center 2016 Encores! Season will include three new productions of classic musicals, reinvented for modern audiences. The 2016 season will open with Cabin in the Sky, followed by 1776, and will conclude with Do I Hear A Waltz?.

Based at the New York City Center under the artistic directorship of Jack Viertel, the Encores! 2016 season is made possible by Stacey and Eric Mindich, Nathalie and Pablo Salame, The Shubert Foundation, and the Stephanie and Fred Shuman Fund. The season also features musical direction by Rob Berman.

Cabin in the Sky will run from 10 to 14 February 2016 at the City Center Main House. Featuring music by Vernon Duke, lyrics by John La Touche, and a book by Lynn Root, the musical originally opened on 25 October 1940 at the Martin Beck Theatre in a production staged and choreographed by George Balanchine and ran for 156 performances. It tells "the fable-like story of a battle between The Lord's General and the Devil's only son over the soul of a charming ne'er-do-well named 'Little Joe' Jackson who, after a knife fight in a saloon, is given six months more on earth to prove his worth."

1776 will run from 30 March to 3 April 2016. Featuring music and lyrics by Sherman Edwards, and a book by Peter Stone, the musical originally opened on 16 March 1969 at the 46th Street Theatre and played 1217 performances. It also won the Tony Award for Best Musical. 1776 is "set in the halls of Congress, as the founding fathers battle out the question of independence and draft the declaration that will sever their ties to England and give birth to a new nation. John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and their cohorts argue and grandstand through speeches and songs such as 'Sit Down, John,' 'Cool, Cool, Considerate Men,' and 'He Plays the Violin.'"

Finally, Do I Hear A Waltz? will run from 11 to 15 May 2016. The musical marks the only collaboration of Richard Rodgers (music) and Stephen Sondheim (lyrics). It is based on the play 'The Time of the Cuckoo' by Arthur Laurents, who also wrote the book for the musical. It originally opened on 18 March 1965 at the 46th Street Theatre and ran for 220 performances. Do I Hear A Waltz? is "the romantic tale of a middle-class American woman who uses her meager savings for a long-dreamed-of trip to Venice, where she finds love, life, and her truest self."

- by Tom Millward

New York City Center's Encores! 2016 Season

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