NY City 16th Encores season

On The Town, the first Broadway musical written by Leonard Bernstein, Betty Comden and Adolph Green, is the opening show of the NY City 16th Encores season, playing from 19 - 23 Nov 2008.

Next up is Music in the Air, a rarely seen 1932 Jerome Kern/Oscar Hammerstein II musical, playing from 27 - 30 Mar 2009

The final show of the season is Finian�s Rainbow, with music by Burton Lane and lyrics by E.Y. Harburg, running from 26 - 29 Mar 2008.

Rob Berman will music direct and conduct all three productions of the upcoming season.

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 28 Dec 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 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 8 Nov 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 5 - 8 Feb 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. 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 10 Jan 1949, directed by Bretaigne Windust, and played a total of 725 performances. Michael Kidd won the Tony Award for his choreography. Finian�s Rainbow will run from 26 - 29 Mar 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.'

New York City Center Encores! (Jack Viertel, Artistic 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.