Assassins, Bubbly Black Girl & Really Rosie Set for Encores! Off-Center

It's time to start planning that summer visit to New York City Center! This year's Encores! Off-Center has lined up Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman's Assassins, Kirsten Childs' The Bubbly Black Girl Sheds Her Chameleon Skin with Carole King and Maurice Sendak's Really Rosie closing out the season.

Marvin's Room director Anne Kauffman is at the helm of Assassins, which will run from July 12 through July 15. Sondheim and Weidman's musical explores America's history of political violence from the perspective of real assassins, from John Wilkes Booth to Lee Harvey Oswald.

Childs’ autobiographical show, The Bubbly Black Girl, follows a young woman from Los Angeles as she finds her way from suburban daughter to Broadway dancer, all while navigating the politics of race and gender on a journey to find her identity. Performances for the two-night-only engagement are scheduled for July 26 and 27.

Sweet Charity director Leigh Silverman has been tapped to helm Beautiful composer Carole King and children's author and illustrator Maurice Sendak's Really Rosie. This beloved children's musical centers on a little girl living in Brooklyn with a big imagination. Inspired in part by the stories in Sendak’s Nutshell Library, Really Rosie’s songs include “Pierre,” “Alligators All Around” and "Chicken Soup with Rice.” Performances are set for August 2 through August 5.

This will be the first season with Artistic Director Michael Friedman at the helm.“Planning the fifth Off-Center season, I found myself asking: 'What kind of America do we have?' and 'What kind of America do we want?' and 'How can we possibly imagine getting there?' These three shows bring with them three very different visions of the American dream and what happens when people try to make their visions real," Friedman said in a statement.

Casting and creative teams will be announced at a later date.