Encores! Bash Nov 21-22 w/ Barrett, Ebersole, Fierstein, Garrison, Gets, Gravitte, Hathaway and more...

NEW YORK CITY CENTER will present its fourth annual ENCORES! BASH November 21 and 22 as a precursor to the 2005 ENCORES! Season that kicks off in February. This year's ENCORES! BASH will celebrate the 100th anniversary of the birth of five immortal songwriters: Harold Arlen, Marc Blitzstein, Dorothy Fields, Frederick Loewe and Jule Styne.

Brent Barrett, Christine Ebersole, Harvey Fierstein, David Garrison, Malcolm Gets, Debbie Gravitte, Anne Hathaway, Dick Latessa, Rebecca Luker, Burke Moses, Leslie Uggams, Karen Ziemba, Michael Arden, Kate Baldwin, Victoria Clark, Bernard Dotson, Sara Gettelfinger, Nancy Lemenager, Noah Racey, Tony Yazbeck and many more will celebrate the songs of these five musical geniuses. The musicals spotlighted in this birthday salute will include Gypsy, Funny Girl, Bloomer Girl, Paint Your Wagon, See-Saw, The Cradle Will Rock, The Threepenny Opera, Gigi, Bells Are Ringing, High Button Shoes and Brigadoon.

Encores! Bash will be directed and choreographed by Rob Ashford with music direction by Rob Fisher.

Encores! Bash runs Sunday, November 21 at 2 PM and 7:30 PM and Monday, November 22 at 8 PM. Tickets, priced at $25-$90, are now available at the Box Office (West 55th Street between 6th & 7th Aves.), by calling CityTix at (212) 581-1212, or on-line at www.nycitycenter.org.

2005 ENCORES! SEASON

A TREE GROWS IN BROOKLYN (February 10-13, 2005)
Music by Arthur Schwartz
Lyrics by Dorothy Fields
Book by George Abbott & Betty Smith
Revised Book By Eleanor Renfield

A TREE GROWS IN BROOKLYN is the story of the Nolan clan, a Brooklyn working-class family at the turn of the century. They are Johnny, who finds relief in a bottle; his wife Katie; their daughter Francie, who idolizes her father; and Cissy, Johnny' sister-in-law, who has a string of affairs.

PURLIE (March 31-April 3, 2005)
Music by Gary Geld
Lyrics Peter Udell
Book by Peter Udell, Ossie Davis, and Philip Rose

PURLIE won both Tony and Grammy awards when it debuted on Broadway in 1970. In the musical based on Ossie Davis' 1961 play, Purlie Victorious, PURLIE tells the story of Cap'n Cothcipee who owned everyone in a town where slavery and racism were rife. A young idealistic preacher named Purlie Victorious decides to bring freedom to the townsfolk by inventing an elaborate, ingenious and hilarious scheme to reclaim the people's rights. PURLIE includes such popular songs as I Got Love, Walk Him Up The Stairs and Down Home.

THE APPLE TREE (May 12-16, 2005)
Music By Jerry Bock
Lyrics by Sheldon Harnick
Book by Jerry Bock, Sheldon Harnick and Jerome Coopersmith
With Kristin Chenoweth

THE APPLE TREE is a unique evening of three one-act musicals about men, women and a little thing called temptation from the songwriting team of Fiddler On The Roof and She Loves Me. Notable songs include What Makes Me Love Him?, Go To Sleep Whatever You Are, and Oh, To Be A Movie Star. The Apple Tree will feature Kristin Chenoweth.

The 2004-2005 NEW YORK CITY CENTER ENCORES! Season, including Encores! Bash, is under the artistic direction of Jack Viertel. Rob Fisher is Music Director and Kathleen Marshall is the series' Director-in-Residence. Since 1994, NEW YORK CITY CENTER ENCORES! has celebrated the rarely-heard works of America's most important composers and lyricists. Conceived as "concert versions," each ENCORES! Season gives three scores the chance to be heard as originally intended by their creators. The program is the recipient of a special 2000 Tony® Honor for Excellence in the Theatre, as well as the recipient of a New York Drama Critics Circle Award, Outer Critics Circle Award, Drama League's Outstanding Contribution to the Theatre Award, Lucille Lortel Award and Jujamcyn Theaters Award.

Lead sponsorship for the NEW YORK CITY CENTER ENCORES! 2004-2005 Season is provided by NEWMAN'S OWN. Newman's Own is a premium food company headquartered in Westport, CT. Paul Newman donates all after-tax profits from the sale of Newman's Own products to educational and charitable causes. Since 1982, he has donated more than $125 million to over 2,000 charities. Newman's Own all natural line of products includes popcorn, salsa, lemonade, salad dressing, pasta sauce, and steak sauce.