Encores! Off-Center
Mainstage
Jul 10 – 11, 2019
Tickets start at $25
Run Time: Approximately one hour and 55 minutes with no intermission.
CRITIC’S PICK! “A ‘60s MUSICAL THAT OFFERS ZANY DELIGHTS. IT IS ALSO GORGEOUS.”
— The New York Times
Escape into the absurdly funny world of Promenade where two fugitives, known only as 105 (James T. Lane) and 106 (Kent Overshown), navigate the world of haves and have-nots. While on the run from the law, a servant (Bryonha Marie Parham) joins the duo as they bamboozle and elude a lively cast of characters that includes Mark Bedard, Becca Blackwell, Eddie Cooper, Daniel Everidge, Carmen Ruby Floyd, Marcy Harriell, Bonnie Milligan, Don Darryl Rivera, Soara-Joye Ross, Steve Routman, Saundra Santiago, and J.D. Webster.
A zany anti-adventure written by the “mother of avant-garde theater,” Maria Irene Fornes, and featuring an eclectic musical score by Judson Church Reverend Al Carmines, Promenade promises outlandish fun that examines the ways in which social status can both liberate and imprison.
Promenade is part of the 2019 Encores! Off-Center season along with Working: A Musical and Road Show. These seldom-performed gems each explore and re-examine the concept of the American Dream. Read more
Join the conversation #PromenadeNYCC
Fornes took a mad swan dive, deep into her subconscious, and unleashed a new American theater: joyous, spontaneous, exhilarating. Feast in the wonder that was and is Maria Irene Fornes. She’ll liberate you.
– John Guare, Playwright
Timeless, relaxed, and melodious, [Al Carmines’s] music always suggests, exquisitely, your favorite song being sung in the next room.
– The New York Times (1969 Off-Broadway production)
In its odd way it's an exquisite piece of musical theater.
– The New York Times (1983 revival)
Torch Bearers of Off-Off-Broadway: Promenade’s Maria Irene Fornes and Al Carmines.
– Alisa Solomon
Before each Encores! Off-Center performance, ticket holders are invited to come early to experience The Lobby Project created by Artists-in-Residence The Civilians.
The Lobby Project is a series of pre-performance events featuring a musical theater performance based around the themes of each Off-Center production. Free for that evening’s ticket holders, The Lobby Project begins one hour before curtain in City Center’s Grand Tier lobby on the second floor.
Listen to the recording of Notes Not Written, Then/Now
Book and Lyrics by Maria Irene Fornes
Music by Al Carmines
Choreographed by Hope Boykin
Music Direction by Greg Jarrett
Directed by Laurie Woolery
Starring Mark Bedard, Becca Blackwell, Eddie Cooper, Daniel Everidge, Carmen Ruby Floyd, Marcy Harriell, James T. Lane, Bonnie Milligan, Kent Overshown, Bryonha Marie Parham, Don Darryl Rivera, Soara-Joye Ross, Steve Routman, Saundra Santiago, and J.D. Webster.
Encores! Off-Center Artistic Director Anne Kauffman
Encores! Off-Center Creative Advisor Jeanine Tesori
Encores! Off-Center Music Director Chris Fenwick
Promenade is part of the 2019 Encores! Off-Center season along with Working: A Musical and Road Show.
Learn about all the extraordinary programming and ancillary events we have lined up for our 75th Anniversary Season.
75th Anniversary Season Sponsors
Stacey and Eric Mindich
Leadership Support for Encores! Off-Center is provided by
Stacey and Eric Mindich Fund for Musical Theater
Major Support is provided by
Series Sponsors
Stacy Bash-Polley
Luigi Caiola and Sean McGill
Elizabeth and Dean Kehler
Andrew Martin-Weber
Paula and Ira Resnick
Nathalie and Pablo Salame
The Lobby Project is sponsored by
The Frederick Loewe Foundation
Support for the Arts Access Fund is provided by
JLGreene Arts Access Fund in The New York Community Trust
Blanchette Hooker Rockefeller Fund
Support for the Artistic Innovation Fund is provided by
Lisa and Richard Witten