Carmen Cusack to Star in Call Me Madam at City Center Encores!

Carmen Cusack has been cast in the central role of Ambassador Sally Adams in the upcoming City Center Encores! presentation of Call Me Madam. Directed by Casey Hushion, choreographed by Tony nominee Denis Jones and music-directed by Rob Berman, the production will run from February 6-10 at New York City Center.

Cusack earned a Tony nomination and a Theatre World Award for her Broadway-debut turn as Alice Murphy in Steve Martin and Edie Brickell's Bright Star. She has also appeared onstage in the national touring productions of South Pacific and Wicked, off-Broadway in Carrie and in the world premiere musical Lempicka at Williamstown Theatre Festival. Cusack will make her major motion picture debut in the upcoming Mr. Rogers biopic A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood.

The principal cast will also include Emmy winner Carol Kane (Taxi) as Grand Dutchess Sophie, Tony nominee Brad Oscar (Something Rotten!) as Senator Gallagher, Tony nominee Lauren Worsham (A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder) as Princess Maria, Michael Benjamin Washington (The Boys in the Band) as Pemberton Maxwell, Ben Davis (Violet) as Cosmo Constantine, Adam Heller (It Shoulda Been You) as Congressman Wilkins and Stanley Wayne Mathis (Nice Work If You Can Get It) as Senator Brockbank. Casting has not yet been finalized for the roles of Kenneth Gibson, Sebastian Sebastian and Grand Duke Otto.

Featuring a book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse and a score by Irving Berlin, Call Me Madam centers on a brassy ambassador to the fictional European nation of Lichtenberg. The show features standards including "It's a Lovely Day Today" and "Something to Dance About," along with Berlin's most famous counterpoint duet, "You're Just in Love."

The ensemble will include Florrie Bagel, Daniel Berryman, Taeler Elyse Cyrus, Leslie Flesner, Ta’Nika Gibson, Christopher Gurr, Leah Horowitz, Javier Ignacio, Max Kumangai, Matt Loehr, Brandt Martinez, Skye Mattox, Timothy McDevitt, Harris Milgrim, Bethany Moore, Mary Page Nance, Robert Roby, Kathy Voytko, Sumi Yu and Ricardo Zayas.

For the second time in Encores! history—and to honor City Center's 75th anniversary season—the series is reviving one of its own revivals. The 1995 Encores! staging of Call Me Madam, directed by Charles Repole, starred Tony winner Tyne Daly as Ambassador Sally Adams. The original 1950 Broadway production, directed by George Abbott, featured a Tony-winning performance from Ethel Merman.