Breaking News: We've Got the Low Down- Tony Yazbeck and Laura Osnes Will Lead Manhattan Concert Productions' CRAZY FOR YOU

Manhattan Concert Productions has just announced lead casting for their 25th anniversary concert version of Gershwin's musical comedy Crazy for You. Tony award nominees Tony Yazbeck and Laura Osnes, will co-star as Bobby Child and Polly Baker for this one night only event at David Geffen Hall, Lincoln Center on February 19, 2017 at 8:00 p.m. Five-time Tony Award winner Susan Stroman will direct the Tony Award-winning Crazy for You 25 years to the day from its opening night on Broadway. The performance features Stroman's choreography from the original production, a chorus of 240 singers from across the United States, a professional cast and creative team, and the enlarged forces of the New York City Chamber Orchestra. Following the success of The Secret Garden earlier this year, Crazy for You marks the fifth installment of Manhattan Concert Productions' critically acclaimed Broadway Series that has also included Parade, Titanic, and Ragtime.

Tony Yazbeck will star as Bobby Child in the concert performance of Crazy for You. He will next be seen in the upcoming season of Showtime's Billions. On stage, he most recently starred in the Broadway production of Finding Neverland and the Susan Stroman and Harold Prince helmed Prince of Broadway in Japan. For the Broadway revival of On the Town, he won the coveted Astaire Award and was nominated for Tony, Drama League, and Outer Critics Circle Awards for his virtuosic performance. Yazbeck's other Broadway credits include: Chicago (Billy Flynn), Gypsy opposite Patti LuPone (Tulsa; Outer Critics Circle nom.), A Chorus Line (Al), Gypsy w/ Tyne Daly. Off-Broadway, Yazbeck has starred in: Fanny Hill (at the York). For City Center Encores!: Little Me, On the Town, Gypsy, The Apple Tree. Regional: Williamstown, Hartford Stage, Goodman, Goodspeed (Connecticut Critics Circle Award), Signature (Helen Hayes Award), Trinity Rep., Paper Mill, Old Globe. Last year, Yazbeck was seen internationally in Kiss Me, Kate at the Royal Albert Hall in London. TV/Film: NBC's Smash, the feature documentary Every Little Step. Tony also stars in his own song and dance show, The Floor Above Me, which was released digitally and on CD by P.S. Classics.

Laura Osnes will play the role of Bobby's love interest, Polly Baker. She will return to Broadway this spring in the new musical Bandstand after creating the role of Julia Trojan in the Paper Mill Playhouse production. Her other Broadway credits include the title role in Rodgers + Hammerstein's Cinderella (Drama Desk Award; Tony, Outer Critics Circle, Drama League and Astaire Award nominations), Bonnie in Bonnie and Clyde (Tony Award nomination), after creating the role at Asolo Repertory Theatre and La Jolla Playhouse (San Diego Theatre Critics Circle Award), Hope Harcourt in the Tony Award winning revival of Anything Goes (Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, and Astaire Award nominations), Nellie Forbush in Lincoln Center Theater's production of South Pacific, and Sandy in the most recent revival of Grease. Other New York/regional credits include The Threepenny Opera (Drama Desk Award nomination) at the Atlantic Theater Company; City Center Encores! productions of The Band Wagon and Pipe Dream; The Sound of Music in concert at Carnegie Hall; Carousel opposite Steven Pasquale at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, and Broadway: Three Generations at the Kennedy Center. On television, she has been seen in Sondheim: The Birthday Concert at Avery Fisher Hall, HBO's documentary Six By Sondheim, and the Kennedy Center Honors salutes to Barbara Cook (2011) and Dustin Hoffman (2012). Her many concerts and cabarets include performing with Michael Feinstein, the New York Philharmonic, The Boston Pops, The San Francisco Symphony, and The National Symphony Orchestra, In addition to being heard on several cast recordings, Laura has two solo albums, Dream A Little Dream: Live at The Café Carlyle and If I Tell You: The Songs of Maury Yeston.

Further cast and creative team announcements to follow.

With music and lyrics by George Gershwin and Ira Gershwin, and book by Ken Ludwig, Crazy for You is based on the Gershwin brothers' 1930 musical Girl Crazy, incorporating songs from several other productions as well. The story follows Bobby Child (Yazbeck), a banker who dreams of dancing for Zangler's Follies, the most popular show in New York City. After a failed audition, his mother sends him to Deadrock, Nevada to foreclose on a rundown theater. There he meets Polly Baker (Osnes), who, unbeknownst to him, is the daughter of the theater's owner. Bobby falls in love with her instantly and hatches a plan to save the theater.

Tickets, starting at $75, are currently on sale and may be purchased by visiting www.mcp.us; www.lincolncenter.org; calling CenterCharge (212) 721-6500; or visiting the David Geffen Hall box office at 10 Lincoln Center Plaza (Columbus Avenue at 65th Street)

Manhattan Concert Productions (MCP) is an esteemed Production Company in its 18th season. MCP has provided opportunity to thousands of musicians in choirs, bands, and orchestras that have performed at famous venues throughout the United States and many countries abroad. Additionally, MCP regularly features the work of professional singers, actors, instrumentalists, conductors and composers. The guest musicians of the Crazy for You chorus will spend five days in New York City rehearsing and performing side-by-side with the professional principal cast and crew as part of Manhattan Concert Productions' continuing mission of student and professional collaboration. Visit www.mcp.us to learn more.

The worldwide copyrights in the music of George and Ira Gershwin® for this presentation are licensed by the Gershwin Family. Crazy For You®, The New Gershwin® Musical is presented by arrangement with TAMS-WITMARK MUSIC LIBRARY, INC. 560 Lexington Avenue, New York, New York 10022. GERSHWIN is a registered trademark and service mark of Gershwin Enterprises. CRAZY FOR YOU is a registered trademark and service mark of Crazy For You Enterprises.