Pipe Dream: Leslie Uggams joins cast

Leslie Uggams will join the previously announced Tom Wopat, Will Chase have Laura Osnes in the New York City Center Encores! production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Pipe Dream, the second New York City Center Encores! production of the season, running from 28 Mar - 1 Apr 2012.

Uggams' (Fauna) won a 1968 Tony Award for her Broadway debut performance as 'Georgina' in 'Hallelujah, Baby!' and was nominated for a 2001 Tony for he role as 'Ruby' in 'King Hedley II.' Her other B'way credits include 'Her First Roman,' 'Blues in the Night,' 'Jerry's Girls,' 'Anything Goes' (1987 revival), 'Thoroughly Modern Millie' and 'On Golden Pond.' She was nominated for an Emmy and Golden Globe Award for her portrayal of 'Kizzy Reynolds' in the TV mini-series 'Roots.' She won an 1983 Daytime Emmy, and was nominated for a 1984 Daytime Emmy, for her work as an hostess on the Variety series 'Fantasy."

The cast for Pipe Dream will also feature James Clow, James Moye, Steve Routman and Stephen Wallem. The production will be directed by Marc Bruni and choreographed by Kelli Barclay.

Pipe Dream, based on John Steinbeck's novel 'Sweet Thursday,' features music by Richard Rodgers, with book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II.

The musical is about a group of outcasts yearning for a better life who populate the bordellos and flophouses of a 1950's California seaside town. The show features many of Steinbeck's Cannery Row characters and tells the story of the romance between 'Doc' (Will Chase), a marine biologist, and 'Suzy' (Laura Osnes), a young woman who hitchhikes into town looking for a better life. Doc's friends include 'Mac' (Tom Wopat), 'Hazel' (Stephen Wallem), and 'Fauna,' the owner of the local brothel.

The show premiered at the Shubert Theatre on 30 Nov 1955 and ran for 246 performances. It was nominated for nine Tony Awards, including Best Musical. Pipe Dream has not been seen on the American stage in more than two decades, owing to a technicality involving the underlying rights.

This Rodgers and Hammerstein rarity includes the songs "All at Once You Love Her," "The Next Time It Happens" and the wistful ballad "Everybody's Got a Home but Me."