The York Theatre Company will present a one-night only benefit performance of Busker Alley on November 13th at 8:00 p.m. at The Kaye Playhouse at Hunter College. Scheduled to appear are: Glenn Close, Jim Dale, Jessica Grové, Simon Jones, Noah Racey, Greg Mills, Krista Rodriguez, Ann Rogers, Michael Lane Trautman and Jeff Williams.
With music and lyrics by Richard and Robert Sherman (
Mary Poppins, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang) and a book by A J Carothers,
Busker Alley will finally have its New York premiere. Multi-Tony Award-winning theater/film designer and director
Tony Walton (
Well, Uncle Vanya, Guys and Dolls revival,
Grand Hotel) will direct. The creative team also includes:
Lisa Shriver as choreographer, Richard Pilbrow as lighting designer,
Aaron Gandy as music director.
Busker Alley is "about a busker (one who entertains in public on Londons' famous streets) who falls in love with a much younger woman who longs to be a big star in the theatre and leaves him to follow her dreams," state York notes. The show is based on the 1938 British motion picture, St. Martin's Lane, which was released in America under the title
The Sidewalks of London. The film starred Charles Laughton as Charlie Staggers, Vivien Leigh as Libby and Rex Harrison as Harley Prentiss.
Busker Alley will reunite
Glenn Close and
Jim Dale who starred together in Broadway's
Barnum (1980). It will also be a reunion for
Glenn Close and
Tony Walton, who worked together on Tom Stoppard's The Real Thing in 1984.
"The Sherman Brothers and A J Carothers wrote the musical in 1969 under the title Piccadilly. Nothing happened with the show until 1982, when some interest grew and the project was rewritten and renamed
Blow Us A Kiss. Yet, it was not until 1994, when
Tommy Tune became attached to the show, that it was finally launched under the new name Busker Alley. The show played in 16 cities with a planned Broadway debut scheduled for 1995 at the St. James Theatre. However, six weeks prior to its scheduled opening night
Tommy Tune broke his foot during one of the performances in Tampa. The show never reached New York. "
Jim Dale (Charlie Laughton) has appeared on Broadway in
The Threepenny
Opera (2006 Tony Award nomination),
Candide (1997 Tony Award
nomination),
Me and My Girl, Joe Egg (1985 Tony Award nomination),
Barnum (1980 Tony Award) and
Scapino (1975 Tony Award nomination), for
which he also adapted the book and wrote the music.
Glenn Close (Dame Libby) has appeared on Broadway in
The Play What I
Wrote, Sunset Boulevard (1995 Tony Award),
Death and the Maiden (1992
Tony Award),
Benefactors, The Real Thing (1984 Tony Award),
Barnum
(1980 Tony Award nomination),
The Crucifer of Blood, Rex, The Member of
the Wedding, The Rules of the Game and
Love for Love. She is a five-time Academy Award-nominee.
Tickets are scaled from $100-$250 and are now available through The Kaye Playhouse Box Office. To order, call (212) 772-4448 or visit the The Kaye Box Office, East 68th Street (between Park & Lexington Avenues) Monday through Saturday, 12 PM - 6 PM.
To inquire about special donor seating (Prime and Premium Orchestra seats for donations of $1,000 and $500, respectively) call the York Theatre directly at (212) 935-5820. Tickets purchased at the $1,000 and $500 levels will include passes to the exclusive post-show reception with the cast and creative team, limited edition posters and a listing in the program.
