2025 Encores! Series

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Thanks to you, this series of concert stagings revisits the archives of American musical theater. Centered around The Encores! Orchestra, these revivals are produced with limited runs and rehearsal schedules, spotlighting the vocal talents of star-studded ensembles.

ENCORES!
URINETOWN
Feb 5 – 16, 2025

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Subscription week: Feb 5 – 9
Week 2: Feb 11 – 16
Tue – Fri 7:30pm
Sat 2 & 7:30pm*
Sun 2 & 7pm (Feb 16, 2pm only)
*note new time

Music and Lyrics by Mark Hollmann
Book and Lyrics by Greg Kotis
Orchestrations by Bruce Coughlin
Choreographer Mayte Natalio
Featuring The Encores! Orchestra
Music Director Mary-Mitchell Campbell
Director Teddy Bergman

Simply the most gripping and galvanizing theater experience in town

The New York Times

In this side-splitting satire directed by Teddy Bergman (KPOP), a young hero played by Jordan Fisher (Hadestown, Dear Evan Hansen) leads his community in a fight against oppression. Set in a dystopian world where water is scarce and “Hope” is even scarcer, all citizens must now pay a fee for “The Privilege to Pee” at one of the public facilities controlled by a selfish tycoon (Rainn Wilson of The Office) and monitored by authorities like Officer Lockstock (Taran Killam of Spamalot). But the citizens can only hold it in so much longer, and soon the poorest, filthiest of these facilities, run by the formidable Penelope Pennywise (Keala Settle of The Greatest Showman), becomes a “number one” site for major change.

With an incisive score by Tony winner Mark Hollmann, hilarious lyrics by Hollman and Tony winner Greg Kotis, and a plot with thrilling twists and turns, Urinetown is an “audacious and exhilarating” (The New York Times) take on the classic story of a ragtag group of underdogs coming together to try to oust a corrupt corporation. In this Tony-winning musical, nothing is safe from criticism — capitalism, politics, the establishment, the anti-establishment, and even musical theater itself!

Artists

ENCORES!
LOVE LIFE
Mar 26 – 30, 2025

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Subscription week: Mar 26 – 30
Wed – Fri 7:30pm
Sat 2 & 7:30pm* | Sun 2 & 7pm
*note new time

Music and Lyrics by Kurt Weill and Alan Jay Lerner
Book by Alan Jay Lerner
Orchestrations by Kurt Weill and Irving Schlein
Consulting Producer Jack Viertel
Choreographer JoAnn Hunter
Featuring The Encores! Orchestra
Guest Music Director Rob Berman
Director Victoria Clark

Hot, comic, blue, satiric, and romantic

The New York Times

Love Life, the only collaboration between Kurt Weill and Alan Jay Lerner, depicts a love story that takes place over 200 years of American history, through the eyes of a couple who never ages, played by Kate Baldwin (Hello, Dolly!) and Nicholas Christopher (Encores! Jelly’s Last Jam). This rarely staged production is directed by Tony winner Victoria Clark (Kimberly Akimbo) and explores the epic and intimate aspects of a marriage through a juxtaposition of heartfelt scenes and satirical vaudeville acts.

When Love Life arrived on Broadway in 1948, Weill called it "an entirely new form of theater." While it wasn't a smash hit at the time, many of the most famous and influential names in musical theater history point to Love Life as the first concept musical, an inspiration for musical theater favorites such as Cabaret, Chicago, and Company. 

City Center brings Love Life back to the New York City stage for the first time since its Broadway run over 75 years ago. The show features some of Weill’s most delightful, biting, and melodic numbers, such as “Mr. Right” and “Here I’ll Stay,” which became cabaret standards covered by many, and evoke his iconic work with Bertold Brecht on The Threepenny Opera. 

Love Life was originally scheduled as part of the 2020 season of Encores! but the performances were cancelled just before the Covid-19 shutdown. We are thrilled to welcome it back this season!

Artists

Actor in a vibrant costume with arms raised on stage (Sutton Foster). Text reads: "Be First. Join in the fun and get advance access to tickets. Memberships from $100." Button: "Join Now.”

ENCORES!
WONDERFUL TOWN
Apr 30 – May 11, 2025

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Subscription week: Apr 30 – May 4
Week 2: May 6 – 11
Tue – Fri | 7:30pm
Sat 2 & 7:30pm* | Sun 2 & 7pm (May 11 2pm only)
*note new time

Book by Joseph Fields and Jerome Chodorov (based upon the play My Sister Eileen by Joseph Fields and Jerome Chodorov and the stories by Ruth McKenney)
Music by Leonard Bernstein
Lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green
Sketches for “What a Waste” by Betty Comden and Adolph Green
Choreographer Lorin Latarro
Featuring The Encores! Orchestra
Music Director Mary-Mitchell Campbell
Director Zhailon Levingston

Irresistible

The New York Times

Winner of five Tony Awards including Best Musical, Wonderful Town tells the story of two sisters in 1935 who move from Ohio to Greenwich Village to pursue their artistic dreams and maybe find love along the way. Ruth, an aspiring writer, and Eileen, an aspiring actress, encounter an assortment of colorful characters as they strive and sing to delightful tunes by the great Leonard Bernstein with lyrics by legendary musical-comedy duo Betty Comden and Adolph Green.

Zhailon Levingston (Cats: "The Jellicle Ball") directs this celebration of New York City as a magnet for people from all walks of life who come here to fulfill their aspirations. Led by Mary-Mitchell Campbell, the 28-piece Encores! Orchestra brings the beloved Golden Age sound—featuring marvelous songs like “Ohio” and “One Hundred Easy Ways”—back to life at City Center.

Wonderful Town replaces the previously announced The Wild Party which we plan to present as part of the 2026 Encores! season.

A performer on stage (Tiffany Mann) sings in front of an audience. Text reads: “Be Front & Center. Patrons enjoy access to the best seats in the house, even to sold-out shows." Button: “Learn More.”

Artistic Leadership

Lear deBessonet | Artistic Director
Mary-Mitchell Campbell | Music Director
Clint Ramos | Producing Creative Director
Josh Clayton | Director of Music Administration & Score Restoration

Creative Advisors
Camille A. Brown, Eisa Davis, and Robert O'Hara

VP & Producer of Musical Theater
Jenny Gersten

Art by Ben Wiseman

Casting and programming subject to change.

Encores! Urinetown is presented through special arrangement with Music Theatre International (MTI). All authorized performance materials are also supplied by MTI. www.mtishows.com

Encores! Love Life is presented under license from European American Music Distributors Company, on behalf of the Kurt Weill Foundation for Music, Inc., and the Alan Jay Lerner Testamentary Trust.

Encores! Wonderful Town is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals on behalf of Tams-Witmark LLC. www.concordtheatricals.com

Sponsors

LEADERSHIP SUPPORT FOR ENCORES!
Stacey and Eric Mindich Fund for Musical Theater

SUPPORT FOR THE ANN REINKING ENCORES! CHOREOGRAPHY FELLOWSHIP IS PROVIDED BY
Bloomberg Philanthropies
Peter Talbert in honor of Ann Reinking

MAJOR SUPPORT FOR NEW YORK CITY CENTER
Howard Gilman Foundation

ENCORES! SEASON SPONSORS
The Shubert Foundation
Stephanie and Fred Shuman Fund for Encores!

MAJOR SUPPORT FOR LOVE LIFE
Robbie Moray and Scott Dunn
Eleanor and Howard Morgan
Joseph S. and Diane H. Steinberg Charitable Trust

MAJOR SUPPORT FOR WONDERFUL TOWN
Thomas and Maren Hood
Margot and John Ernst
Stacy Polley

ADDITIONAL SUPPORT FOR ENCORES!
Allen & Co.
The Kaplen Brothers Fund
The Blanche and Irving Laurie Foundation
The Frederick Loewe Foundation
Daryl and Steven Roth
The Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation, Inc.
Joanna and Steven Sanders
The SHS Foundation
The Ted Snowdon Foundation
Marta Heflin Foundation

COMMUNITY NIGHTS ARE MADE POSSIBLE BY
Jerome L. Greene Foundation at The Trust logo

SUPPORT FOR ASL-INTERPRETED PERFORMANCES IS PROVIDED BY
Howard Gilman Foundation logo

 

 

Past Productions