A Heavenly Pairing: Norm Lewis, LaChanze & More Tapped for City Center Encores!' Cabin in the Sky

Initial casting is set for New York City Center Encores!’ production of Cabin in the Sky. Norm Lewis will star alongside Tony winners LaChanze and Chuck Cooper in the staging, which will begin on February 10, 2016 and play seven performances through February 14. Ruben Santiago‐Hudson will direct and Camille A. Brown will choreograph.

The 1940 musical features a score by Vernon Duke, lyrics by John Latouche and a book by Lynn Root. It follows “Little Joe” Jackson, who, after dying in a bar fight, must prove his place in heaven to the Lord’s General (Lewis), his wife Petunia (LaChanze), all while resisting temptations from the Devil’s Head Man (Cooper). Tony winner Jonathan Tunick will recreat the original, lost orchestrations.

Lewis most recently starred on Broadway in The Phantom of the Opera; he earned a Tony nod for his performance in The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess. LaChanze, a Tony winner for The Color Purple and a nominee or Once on This Island, is currently reprising her If/Then performance in the national tour. Cooper won a Tony in 1997 for The Life and has since appeared in shows including Caroline, or Change, Act One and Amazing Grace.

The cast is set to additionally feature J. Bernard Calloway (All The Way), Marva Hicks (Motown), Carly Hughes (Chicago), Tony nominee Forrest McClendon (The Scottsboro Boys) and J.D. Webster (The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess).

Encores!’ 2016 season will also include a multi-ethnic production of 1776 under the direction of Garry Hynes, featuring music direction by Ben Whiteley and choreography by Chris Bailey, as well as Do I Hear a Waltz, directed by Evan Cabnet, musical direction by Rob Berman and choreography by Chase Brock.