January 9, 2014 - New York, New York

NEW YORK CITY CENTER 2013-14 SEASON CONTINUES

-Little Me, starring Christian Borle and Rachel York, directed by John Rando, choreographed by Joshua Bergasse, opens Encores! 2014 season

-The Most Happy Fella, starring Shuler Hensley, Laura Benanti and Cheyenne Jackson, directed and choreographed by Casey Nicholaw

-Irma La Douce, directed by John Doyle, choreographed by Chase Brook

-Flamenco Festival 2014 features gala opening and N.Y.premieres

-N.Y. premiere of Jean-Christophe Maillot’s LAC (AFTERSWAN LAKE), performed by Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo

-Encores! Off-Center returns for second summer season

 

New York City Center’s 2013-14 season continues with an exciting lineup of dance, theater and music, featuring Tony Award-winning actors, world-class dance, and world premiere theater.

The 21st season of City Center’s Tony Award–winning Encores! series begins in February with Little Me starring Christian Borle and Rachel York, followed by The Most Happy Fellastarring Shuler Hensley, Laura Benanti and Cheyenne Jackson, and Irma La DouceFlamenco Festival 2014 sweeps into City Center in March with works by flamenco stars Eva Yerbabuena, Antonio Canales, Carlos Rodríguez, Karime Amaya and Jesús Carmona, and The Ballets de Monte-Carlo returns to New York with the N.Y. premiere of Jean-Christophe Maillot’s LAC (After Swan Lake).

 Theater productions also include four world premiere plays by Manhattan Theatre Club and works by The Women’s Project Theater, the nation’s oldest and largest company dedicated to producing and promoting theater created by women.

The Spring 2014 Season

 

ENCORES! LITTLE ME

February 5 – 9, 2014                                                                                                       

Director, John Rando; Choreographer,  Joshua Bergasse; Music Director, Rob Berman

Christian Borle and Rachel York will be joined by Robert Creighton, David Garrison, Harriet Harris, Judy Kaye, Lewis J. Stadlen, Lee Wilkof, and Tony Yazbeck in Little Methe opening production of New York City Center’s 2014 Encores! season, directed by John Rando with music direction by Rob Berman and choreography by Joshua Bergasse.

Little Me, Neil Simon’s first musical, is the story of the glamorous Belle Poitrine (Rachel York as young Belle, Judy Kaye as older Belle), a self-invented celebrity who has spent her life in pursuit of wealth, culture and social position. Tony Award-winnerChristian Borle will play all six of Belle’s oddball lovers, who range from an innocent college boy to an octogenarian lecher to the dying king of a tiny European country that doesn’t seem to exist.

Based on the novel Little Me: The Intimate Memoirs of that Great Star of Stage, Screen and Television/Belle Poitrine, by Patrick Dennis, Little Me has a book by Neil Simon, music by Cy Coleman and lyrics by Carolyn Leigh.  The original production starred Sid Caesar as Belle’s six love interests. It opened at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre on November 17, 1962 and ran for 257 performances. Songs include “I’ve Got Your Number,” “Real Live Girl” and “The Other Side of the Tracks.”www.NYCityCenter.org

 

Tickets: Starting at $30

Press:  Helene Davis, (212) 354-7436helene@helenedavispr.com

 

FLAMENCO FESTIVAL 2014

March 6 – 9, 2014                                                                                                            

The internationally renowned Flamenco Festival returns to New York City Center March 6 – 9 for a 14th season of world-class flamenco dance and musicfeaturing Spain’s finest dancers and singers in three programs.  The Festival opens with a gala performance that showcases the best of modern flamenco, followed by two New York premieres by Spain’s great flamenco star,Eva Yerbabuena.

 

The opening  gala on March 6 and 7, directed by Ángel Rojas, brings together four of the world’s most celebrated flamenco dancers: Antonio Canales, Carlos Rodríguez, Karime Amaya and Jesús Carmona, accompanied by musicians and three female dancers.

 

The Festival continues with two New York premieres by Eva Yerbabuena:  AY!  on March 8 and Lluvia on March 9.   In AY! ,Yerbabuena returns to a more traditional format: a series of solo set pieces with live musical accompaniment. Lluvia showcases Yerbabuena at her most elegant and emotive.  Accompanied by four dancers and her critically acclaimed ensemble of musicians, she delivers an unforgettable tour-de-force performance in what has been described as the most sophisticated and powerful production of her career.  www.NYCityCenter.org

 

Tickets: Starting at $35

Press: Helene Davis, (212) 354-7436helene@helenedavispr.com

Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo Presents In Association with New York City Center & Ardani Artists
Jean-Christophe Maillot’s
LAC (AFTER SWAN LAKE)

March 14 – 16, 2014                                                                                                         

This season marks the 20th anniversary of Jean-Christophe Maillot as Choreographer-Director of Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo and the company’s long-awaited return to New York. It also marks the New York premiere of Maillot’s personal vision of Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake. It is a vast challenge for any choreographer to tackle this legendary piece, which is so well known throughout the world. Maillot worked with the writer Jean Rouaud, 1990 Prix Goncourt winner, to adapt the timeless story of Siegfried and Odette. With scenery design by visual artist Ernest Pignon-Ernest and costumes by Philippe Guillotel.www.ardani.com

 

Tickets: $50, $75, $100

Press: Helene Davis, (212) 354-7436helene@helenedavispr.com

 

Martha Graham Dance Company

Mar 19 – 22, 2014

 

The Martha Graham Dance Company brings exciting premieres by international stars Nacho Duato and Andonis Foniadakis to New York, along with the new one-act production of Graham’s Clytemnestra.  The season also features the 70th Anniversary celebration of Appalachian Spring and the 30th of Graham’s The Rite of Spring, as well as an opening night gala performance with special guests.

 

Tickets: Starting at $35

Press: Janet Stapleton, (212)-633-0016stapleton.janet@gmail.com

 

ENCORES!  FRANK LOESSER’S MUSICAL THE MOST HAPPY FELLA 

April 2 – 6, 2014                                                                                                                               

Directed and choreographed by Casey Nicholaw; Music Director, Rob Berman

 

Laura Benanti, Cheyenne Jackson and Shuler Hensley will star in the Encores! production of Frank Loesser’s The Most Happy Fella,  directed and choreographed by Casey Nicholaw, with music direction by Rob Berman.

The Most Happy FellaFrank Loesser’s most ambitious and romantic musical, tells the heart-stopping story of a love triangle between an aging Napa Valley farmer (Shuler Hensley), a young waitress (Laura Benanti) and a handsome, restless ranch hand (Cheyenne Jackson).

The Most Happy Fella is based on the play They Knew What They Wanted by Sidney Howard. It has a book, music and lyrics byFrank Loesser. Loesser’s score displays an astonishing range – ardent operatic numbers stand side by side with Broadway show-stoppers – and includes “Somebody Somewhere,” “My Heart Is So Full of You,” “Big D” and “Standing on the Corner.” It opened at the Imperial Theatre on May 3, 1956 and ran for 676 performances.  www.NYCityCenter.org

Tickets: Starting at $30

Press:  Helene Davis, (212) 354-7436helene@helenedavispr.com

 

ENCORES! IRMA LA DOUCE

May 7 – 11, 2014                                                                                                              

Director, John Doyle; Choreographer, Chase Brook; Music Director, Rob Berman

 

Encores! breaks the mold with its first musical not written on American soil.  Irma La Douce, the tale of a Parisian lady of the evening and the law student who falls in love with her, has music by Marguerite Monnot and English book and lyrics by Julian More, David Heneker and Monty Norman.

 

After a three-year run in Paris, an English-language version of Irma La Douce, directed by Peter Brook, enjoyed tremendous success first in London and then on BroadwayIt opened at the Plymouth Theatre on September 29, 1960 and ran for 524 performances. The score produced one standard, “Our Language of Love,” and also features “The Valse Millieu” and “Dis Donc.”www.NYCityCenter.org

                                                                                                                                               

Tickets: Starting at $30

Press:  Helene Davis, (212) 354-7436helene@helenedavispr.com

 

ENCORES! OFF-CENTER

Summer 2014

 

City Center’s Encores! Off-Center, featuring three seminal Off-Broadway musicals filtered through the lens of today’s most innovative artists, will return for its second season this summer (schedule to be announced).

 

In the Encores! tradition, there is a great emphasis on the scores, with the orchestra performing onstage, and each show receives a brief rehearsal period followed by five performances. The series also features free, pre-curtain conversations with a range of special guests including artists, scholars and musicians. These events, while informative, are also entertaining in their own right, featuring genres ranging from visual art to spoken-word poetry and beyond. The events place the musical in the context of its legacy and provide insightful explorations of the work the audience is about to experience. www.NYCityCenter.org

 

Press:  Helene Davis, (212) 354-7436helene@helenedavispr.com

MANHATTAN THEATRE CLUB                  

Under the leadership of Artistic Director Lynne Meadow and Executive Producer Barry GroveManhattan Theatre Club has become one of the country’s most prominent and prestigious theater companies. Over the past four decades, MTC productions have earned a total of 19 Tony Awards and six Pulitzer Prizes, an accomplishment unparalleled by a New York theatrical institution. Mandy Greenfield, MTC’s Artistic Producer, is the lead in programming and execution at MTC’s Off-Broadway homes at City Center. www.mtc.org

MTC’s City Center spring season currently features The Commons of Pensacola, world premiere play by Amanda Peet, directed by Lynne Meadow, starring Blythe Danner and Sarah Jessica Parker (through January 26).  The season continues with the world premiere of Tales from Red Vienna(February 26 – April 27) by David Grimm, directed by Kate Whoriskey, starring Nina Arianda and Kathleen Chalfant.  Next up is When We Were Young and Unafraid (May 22 – August 10), a world premiere play by Sarah Treem, directed by Tony Award winner Pam MacKinnon, starring Emmy and two-time Tony Award winner Cherry Jones.

 

A summer production as part of MTC’s The Studio at Stage II will be announced shortly.

 

Stage I tickets: $90 – $105 ; Stage II tickets: $30

Press: Aaron Meier, ameier@bbbway.com

 

WOMEN’S PROJECT THEATER                                                                                                   

                                               

Following its outrageously successful first season at City Center Stage II, Women’s Project Theater returns with three boldly theatrically, intellectually rigorous, and emotionally gripping plays written and directed by women for everyone. The Spring season includes Row After Row by Jessica Dickey, directed by  Daniella Topol (January 15 – February 16); The Architecture of Becoming, by Kara Lee Corthron, Sarah Gancher, Virginia Grise, Dipika Guha and Lauren Yee, directed by Elena Araoz, Lydia Fort and  Lauren Keating (February 25 – March 23, 2014) and The Most Deserving by Catherine Trieschmann, directed by Shelley Butler (March 30 – May 4).

 

Women’s Project Theater is the magnetic force field for innovative artists and adventurous theatergoers from around the world. Under the direction of Julie Crosby and throughout its luminous history, Women’s Project Theater has staged over 600 off-Broadway and workshop productions, and published 11anthologies of plays by women.www.WomensProject.org
Tickets: $60

Press: Bruce Cohen, (212) 580-9548brucohen@pipeline.com

 

CITY CENTER FUNDING

 

Support for Little Me is generously provided by Joseph S. and Diane H. Steinberg Charitable Trust.

 

Support for The Most Happy Fella is generously provided by Roz and Jerry Meyer.

 

Support for Irma La Douce is generously provided in part by The Florence Gould Foundation

 

The 2014 Encores! season is made possible, in part, by the Stephanie and Fred Shuman Fund for Encores!, Stacey and Eric Mindich, Newman’s Own Foundation, Nathalie and Pablo Salame and The Shubert Foundation.

 

New York City Center gratefully acknowledges the Encores! Off-Center Founding Sponsors, Stacey and Eric Mindich and Stacy Bash-Polley.

 

New York City Center (Arlene Shuler, President & CEO), now in its 70th year, has played a defining role in the cultural life of the city since 1943. It was Manhattan’s first performing arts center, dedicated by Mayor Fiorello La Guardia with a mission to make the best in music, theater and dance accessible to all audiences. Today, City Center is home to many distinguished companies, including Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, City Center’s Principal Dance Company, as well as Manhattan Theatre Club and a roster of renowned national and international visiting artists; and its own critically acclaimed and popular programs. The Tony-honored Encores!musical theater series has been hailed as “one of the very best reasons to be alive in New York.” In summer 2013 City Center is launching Encores! Off-Center, a new series featuring seminal Off-Broadway musicals filtered through the lens of today’s most innovative artists. Dance has been integral to the theater’s mission from the start, and dance programs, including the annual Fall for Dance Festival, remain central to City Center’s identity. Vital partnerships with arts organizations including Jazz at Lincoln Center and London’s Sadler’s Wells Theatre enhance City Center’s programmatic offerings. City Center is dedicated to providing educational opportunities to New York City students and teachers with programs such as Encores! In Schools and the Young People’s Dance Series. Special workshops cater to families, seniors and other groups, while events such as the Fall for Dance DanceTalk series offer learning opportunities to the general public. In October 2011, City Center completed an extensive renovation project to revitalize and modernize its historic theater.

 

TICKETS

Tickets for all New York City Center events can be purchased online at www.NYCityCenter.org, by calling CityTix® at (212) 581-1212, or at the City Center Box Office at 131 W. 55th St. (btwn 6th & 7th Aves). For more information, please visit www.NYCityCenter.org