Casting is Now Complete for Encores! Follies, Feb. 8-12

With the casting of Colin Donnell (Meet Me in St. Louis, Irish Rep) as Young Ben and Natalie King Smith (42nd Street) as Young Dee Dee, casting for the eagerly anticipated Encores! production of Follies is now complete.

New York City Center's Encores! 2007 Season pays tribute to the 100th Anniversary of the first Ziegfeld Follies, kicking off the celebration with Stephen Sondheim and James Goldman's legendary 1971 multiple Tony Award-winner, Follies, directed and choreographed by Casey Nicholaw, with music direction by Eric Stern. Follies will play for six performances, from February 8 – 12 at New York City Center, 55th Street between 6th and 7th Avenues. (Due to high ticket demand, a special performance has been added on Monday evening, February 12.)

The cast  includes Lucine Amara as Heidi, Christine Baranski as Carlotta, Philip Bosco as Dimitri Weismann, Victoria Clark as Sally, Yvonne Constant as Solange, Victor Garber as Ben, Mimi Hines as Hattie, Michael McGrath as Buddy, Donna Murphy as Phyllis, and Joanne Worley as Stella, with Leena Chopra, Donnell, Diane J. Findlay, Robert Fitch, Curtis Holbrook, Katie Klaus, Jenny Powers, Anne Rogers, Dorothy Stanley, and Gerry Vichi.

The ensemble includes Cameron Adams, Clyde Alves, Ashlee Fife, Andrew Fitch, Emily Fletcher, Jenifer Foote, Ben Hartley, Brian Marcum, Barrett Martin, Jennifer Mathie, Shannon Marie O'Bryan, Denise Payne, Smith, Matt Wall, JD Webster and Kristen Beth Williams.

Follies, with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by James Goldman, opened on Broadway on April 4, 1971, winning eight Tony Awards, including one for Outstanding Score, which includes "Broadway Baby," "Losing My Mind" and "I'm Still Here." 

"Follies takes place in the present and the past simultaneously.  On the eve of its destruction, the once-glorious Weissman Theatre is filled with the ghosts of its past, as veteran showgirls from the Weismann's Follies, a musical revue, (based on the Ziegfeld Follies) reunite to rekindle the aura of the glamorous old days and relive lost memories of promise and splendor. As the evening goes on, the former showgirls reminisce about their past experiences, both good and bad," state press materials.

Tickets for the 2007 Encores! Season are available at the New York City Center Box Office (West 55th Street between 6th and 7th Avenues), through CityTix® at 212-581-1212, or online at www.nycitycenter.org.  Tickets for the Orchestra, Grand Tier are $95 (Feb. 12 only: $100); Mid-Mezzanine tickets are $90; tickets for the Rear Mezzanine and Front Gallery are $50; tickets for the Rear Gallery are $25.

Photo - Victor Garber