Tommy Tune, Colin Donnell, Erin Mackey & More Will Star in Encores! LADY, BE GOOD

Tommy Tune, Colin Donnell, Danny Gardner, Jeff Hiller, Erin Mackey, Patti Murin, Richard Poe, Jennifer Laura Thompson and Kirsten Wyatt will star in George and Ira Gershwin's Lady, Be Good, the opening production of New York City Center's 2015 Encores! season, running for seven performances, February 4 - 8, 2015. Lady, BeGood will be directed by Mark Brokaw and choreographed by Randy Skinner. Founding Encores! Music Director Rob Fisher will return as Guest Music Director, and has supervised the restoration of the Gershwins' original score.

Lady, Be Good tells the story of a penniless brother (Danny Gardner) and sister (Patti Murin) who crash a garden party in hopes of some quick nourishment. They resolve to marry for money, but love gets in the way, as it usually does. Before true love wins out, they encounter Mexican gangsters, crooked lawyers, wealthy socialites, and a song-and-dance man with fascinating rhythm (Tommy Tune).

The 1924 musical embodies the madcap spirit of the Roaring Twenties, when George and Ira Gershwin's first hit collaboration ushered in the Golden Age of American musical comedy. Hot off the triumph of Rhapsody in Blue, George and his brother Ira delivered a jazz-age score that featured "Fascinating Rhythm," "Lady, Be Good," and "The Half of it, Dearie, Blues." Lady, Be Good opened at the Liberty Theater on December 1, 1924 and ran for 330 performances. It has music by George Gershwin and lyrics by Ira Gershwin with a book by Guy Bolton and Fred Thompson. The original production starred Fred and Adele Astaire.

Most of Lady, Be Good's original orchestrations disappeared long ago. Thanks to the Joseph S. and Diane H. Steinberg Broadway Musical Restoration Fund, Encores! will have the opportunity to reproduce an authentic score under the supervision of Encores! Founding Music Director Rob Fisher.

Tommy Tune (Jeff), a nine-time Tony Award winner, is one of the country's most prolific performer/director/choreographers. He began his career as a Broadway dancer in Baker Street, A Joyful Noise and How Now, Dow Jones. He has received Tony Awards for My One and Only (Actor and Choreography), Grand Hotel (Direction and Choreography), The Will Rogers Follies (Direction and Choreography), Nine(Direction), A Day in Hollywood/A Night in the Ukraine (Choreography) and Seesaw(Featured Actor). In addition, Mr. Tune has been awarded eight Drama Desk Awards, three Astaire Awards and the Society of Directors and Choreographers' George Abbott Award for Lifetime Achievement. He is the recipient of The National Medal of Arts, has been honored with his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and was designated a Living Landmark by the New York Landmarks Conservancy. He is currently touring the country in his one-man show Taps, Tunes and Tall Tales. www.tommytune.com

Colin Donnell (Jack Robinson)starred on Broadway in Violet, Anything Goes (Drama Desk nomination), and Jersey Boys, and in the national tours of Wicked and Mamma Mia! His Off-Broadway credits include Love's Labour's Lost (Shakespeare in the Park), Meet Me in St. Louis, and Almost Heaven: The Songs of John Denver. Television work includes recurring roles on "The Affair" and "Pam Am," as well as a series regular on "Arrow." He appeared in Merrily We Roll Along and Follies at Encores!

Danny Gardner (Dick Trevor) is currently appearing in the national tour of White Christmas. National tours include Here to Stay: The Gershwin Experience and 42nd Street. Regionally, Danny has performed in four shows at Goodspeed Opera House, most recently Show Boat. He has performed in nine shows at Merry-Go-Round Playhouse, most recently the world premiere of Neurosis; the world premiere of Noah Racey's Pulse at Asolo Repertory Theatre; the world premiere of Swingtime Salute on the deck of the USS Wisconsin Battleship; and Bach at Leipzig at People's Light and Theatre Company. Danny's Off-Broadway work includes Room 17B at 59E59 Theaters (Drama Desk nom.), Dragons at The York Theatre, and Time Step at the New Victory Theater. He is a proud member of the physical comedy theater troupe Parallel Exit and of Noah Racey's New York Song & Dance Company. www.dannyjgardner.com

Jeff Hiller (Bertie Bassett) has been seen in Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson (both Broadway and Off-Broadway), as Nathaniel in Love's Labour's Lost, as Trinculo in The Tempest (New York Shakespeare Festival), and in Silence! The Musical (both Off-Broadway and L.A. premiere). His regional credits include Steve Martin and Edie Brickell's Bright Star at the Old Globe, Li'l Abner, and the premiere of Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas. Hiller has appeared in the films Ghost Town, The Little Tin Man, Adam, Gayby, and Morning Glory. His television credits include "30 Rock," "Law & Order: Criminal Intent," "Ugly Betty," "Community," "Psych," "The McCarthys," "The Hotwives of Orlando," "Go On," "Partners," "NTSF," "Death Valley," "Boiling Points," and "Guiding Light." Jeff is a frequent performer at the UCB Theatre in both New York and Los Angeles.

Erin Mackey (Shirley Vernon)appeared most recently as Mary Catlett in the world premiere production of Amazing Grace in Chicago. Her Broadway credits include Chaplin (Oona), Anything Goes (Hope), Sondheim on Sondheim, and Wicked (Glinda). She played Johanna in the New York Philharmonic's concert production of Sweeney Todd at Lincoln Center, which aired on PBS this fall. Her film and television work includes "Gossip Girl," "Blue Bloods," The Parent Trap, and the upcoming film The Intern.

Patti Murin(Susie Trevor) created the title role of Lysistrata Jones, which she played at the Dallas Theater Center, Off-Broadway, and on Broadway. She has been seen in Broadway's Xanadu and Off-Broadway in Love's Labour's Lost and Fly By Night. Regional credits include Holiday Inn at the Goodspeed Opera House, Emma at the Old Globe Theatre, and The Little Mermaid at MUNY.

Richard Poe (Rufus Parke/Manuel Estrada) has appeared on Broadway in All The Way, Nice Work if You Can Get It, Present Laughter, 1776, Moon Over Buffalo, M. Butterfly, Our Country's Good, The Pajama Game and Journey's End. Off-Broadway, he was seen in Jeffrey and Why Torture Is Wrong...and the People Who Love Them. His films include Born on the Fourth of July and Presumed Innocent; television includes "Frasier," "The Five Mrs. Buchanans" and "Star Trek." Richard has recorded over 100 audiobooks. www.richardpoenyc.com

Jennifer Laura Thompson (Josephine Vanderwater) has appeared on Broadway in Wicked, Nice Work if You Can Get It, Footloose, Lend Me a Tenor, and both the Broadway and Off-Broadway productions of Urinetown(Tony Award nomination). She has starred off Broadway in Little Fish and A Doll's Life. Her Encores! credits include Pardon My English,Strike up the Band!, Of Thee I Sing and On the Town.

Kirsten Wyatt (Daisy Parke) was most recently on Broadway in the 2012 revival of Annie. Other Broadway credits include A Christmas Story, Elf, Shrek, Grease, High Fidelity, The Pajama Game, Urinetown, and You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown. Television work includes "Naked Brothers Band," "As the World Turns," and "All My Children." Kirsten is also the host of the upcoming original web series "Broadway Nosh." www.kirstenwyatt.net

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