Victor Garber Cast as Wintergreen in Encores! Of Thee I Sing

By: Oct. 07, 2005
LIZA MINNELLI
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Broadway veteran and "Alias" star Victor Garber will step up to the podium as John P. Wintergreen in the Encores! concert production of the Gershwins' Of Thee I Sing. The show will run from May 11th through May 14th, 2006 at City Center.

In Of Thee I Sing, Wintergreen, with the bumbling Alexander Throttlebottom as his running mate, launches on a presidential campaign. The two are sidetracked with a scandal involving beauty queen Diana Devereaux, but in the end, election--and true love--prevails for Wintergreen and the lovely Mary Turner. The satiric show features an operetta-ish score by George and Ira Gershwin and a book by George S. Kaufman and Morrie Ryskind.

Opening on December 26th, 1931, Of Thee I Sing was the first musical to win a Pulitzer Prize. The show ran for 441 performances with William Gaxton, Victor Moore and Lois Moran in its cast; Let 'Em Eat Cake was a sequel by the same team. Of Thee I Sing's score includes such songs as the title number, "Love is Sweeping the Country," "Who Cares?" and "Wintergreen for President."

Garber, who has garnered new fans with his role on "Alias," is a four-time Tony Award nominee for his performances in Damn Yankees, Lend Me a Tenor, Little Me and Deathtrap. Other Broadway credits include Arcadia, Two Shakespearean Actors, Noises Off and Sweeney Todd, in which he originated the role of Anthony. His extensive film and TV credits include the TV musical versions of The Music Man, Annie and Cinderella, Legally Blonde, "Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows," The First Wives Club and Godspell.

The Encores! season will also includes Kismet (Feb. 9th-12th, 2006) and 70, Girls, 70 (March 30th-April 12th, 2006). Kismet is a lush operetta set in an Arabian Nights-esque Baghdad; it features a score by Robert Wright and George Forrest (adapted from themes by Alexander Borodin) and a book by Charles Lederer and Luther Davis. Kismet won the 1954 Tony Award for Best Musical. The show will feature frequent co-stars Brian Stokes Mitchell and Marin Mazzie, with more casting to be announced. Songs from Kismet include "Stranger in Paradise," "Baubles, Bangles and Beads," "Rhymes Have I," and "Not Since Nineveh."

John Kander and Fred Ebb's 70, Girls, 70 follows a group of crafty senior citizens who steal from the young to give to the less well-off elderly. In addition to music by Kander and lyrics by Ebb, the show features a book by Ebb and Norman L. Martin (first adapted by Joe Masteroff from Peter Coke's play Breath of Spring). A 1971 commercial failure on Broadway, it's score contains a number of songs that have become popular Kander and Ebb numbers, such as "Coffee in a Cardboard Cup" and "Yes," which was later performed by Liza Minnelli.

A three-show subscription package to the Encores! season is available at $270 for the Orchestra, Grand Tier, and Mid-mezzanine; and $120 for the Rear Mezzanine and Front Gallery. Single tickets can be purchased at $90 (Orchestra, Grand Tier, Mid-mezzanine), $50 (Rear Mezzanine, Front Gallery) and $25 (Rear Gallery).

Visit www.citycenter.org for more information.



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