Encores! Season to Include Fiorello, It’s A Bird…It’s a Plane...It’s Superman and On Your Toes

The 20th anniverary season of New York City Center’s Encores! will open in January 2013 with Fiorello!, the show that originally launched the Encores! series in 1994. The season also includes It’s A Bird…It’s a Plane..It’s Superman and On Your Toes.  To celebrate the series' 20th Anniversary, Encores! veterans Kelli O’Hara and Raúl Esparza will star in the gala celebration Encores! at 20 on November 12. No casting for any of the three shows has been announced at this time.

Featuring a book by Jerome Weidman and George Abbott, music by Jerry Bock and lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, Fiorello! tells the story of Mayor Fiorello LaGuarda’s rise from an immigrant’s son to feisty congressmen whose guts and determination to fight corruption brought down the crooked Tammany Hall political machine. The Tony and Pulitzer Prize-winning musical opened on Broadway November 23, 1959 and ran for 795 performances. The Encores! presentation will run from January 30 to February 3, 2013. Rob Berman directs.

It's a Bird...It's a Plane...It's Superman, based on the comic strip Superman, has a book by David Newman and Robert Benton, music by Charles Strouse and lyrics by Lee Adams. The original Hal Prince production premiered on Broadway on March 29, 1966 and ran for 129 performances. Also directed by Rob Berman, the show will be presented in March 2013.

With a book by George Abbott, Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart, music by Rodgers and lyrics by Hart, On Your Toes is an improbable mix of gangsters, vaudeville and classical ballet and was the first musical to successfully integrate classical dance into the Broadway musical format. The show opened on Broadway on April 11, 1936 and played 315 performances. The exact dates for On Your Toes at City Center will be announced shortly.