Fiorello! Barney Frank in stage debut

Former congressman Barney Frank will assume the role of a conservative senator when he makes his stage debut in Fiorello!, the opening musical of New York City Center's Encores! 20th Anniversary season.

A member of the Democratic Party, Frank served as chairman of the House Financial Services Committee (2007-2011) and was a leading co-sponsor of the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act, a sweeping reform of the U.S. financial industry. Frank did not seek re-election in 2012 and retired from Congress at the end of his term in January 2013.

Frank will join cast members Kate Baldwin (Thea), Jeremy Bobb, Ray DeMattis, Erin Dilly (Marie), Jenn Gambatese (Dora), Adam Heller, Shuler Hensley (Ben Marino), Richard Ruiz, Danny Rutigliano (Fiorello LaGuardia), Andrew Samonsky, Emily Skinner (Mitzi) and Cheryl Stern.

Fiorello! is directed by Gary Griffin with choreography by Alex Sanchez and music direction by Rob Berman. The show will run for seven performances from 30 Jan - 3 Feb 2013 at New York City Center. Fiorello! has a book by Jerome Weidman and George Abbott, music by Jerry Bock and lyrics by Sheldon Harnick. It is one of only eight musicals to win the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, and it also won the Tony Award for Best Musical.

The musical tells the story of LaGuardia's rise from an immigrant's son to feisty congressmen whose guts and determination to fight corruption brought down the crooked Tammany Hall political machine.

New York City Center's Encores! 20th Anniversary season continues with Charles Strouse's and Lee Adams' It's a Bird...It's a Plane...It's Superman (20 - 24 Mar 2013), based on the comic strip "Superman." And concludes with Richard Rodgers', Lorenz Hart's and George Abbott's On Your Toes (08 - 12 May 2013).