Encores! Casting for Purlie Announced, Blair Underwood, Anika Noni Rose, Lillias White to Star

New York City Center Encores! Artistic Director Jack Viertel and Music Director Rob Fisher have announced that Blair Underwood (in the title role), Tony Award-winner Anika Noni Rose (Lutiebelle), Tony Award-winner Lillias White (Missy), Tony Award-winner John Cullum ('Ol Cap'n') and the actor/comedian Doug E. Doug (Gitlow) have been cast in principal roles for the upcoming Encores! presentation of the musical PURLIE, directed by Sheldon Epps.

With a book by Ossie Davis, Philip Rose and Peter Udell, music by Gary Geld and lyrics by Peter Udell, and a concert adaptation by David Ives, PURLIE is the second offering of the 2005 New York City Center Encores! Season.

Mr. Viertel also announced that this presentation would be dedicated to the memory of Ossie Davis, who passed away in February.

Based on Ossie Davis' 1961 play, Purlie Victorious, PURLIE won both Tony and Grammy Awards when it debuted at the Broadway Theatre on March 15, 1970 where it played for 688 performances. Set in the Jim Crow South, PURLIE tells the story of an idealistic preacher who decides to bring freedom to the townsfolk by inventing an elaborate, ingenious and hilarious scheme to reclaim the people's rights.

A fusion of pop, rhythm and blues and Broadway music, PURLIE was the first time a show and score fully represented a black audience and ushered in the era of the black musical that was populated by shows like The Wiz, Ain't Supposed to Die A Natural Death, Two Gentlemen of Verona and Your Arms Too Short to Box With God. The original production starred Cleavon Little as Purlie, Melba Moore as Lutiebelle and Sherman Hemsley as Gitlow. PURLIE was nominated for five Tony® Awards including Best Musical; with wins for Little and Moore for Best Actor and Featured Actor, respectively. The original production was directed by Philip Rose (who also produced Purlie Victorious on Broadway). The musical includes such popular songs as "I Got Love," "Walk Him Up The Stairs" and "Down Home".

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. Over the years, ENCORES! has presented the works of the Gershwins, Rodgers and Hart, Rodgers and Hammerstein, Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, Kurt Weill, Bock and Harnick, Burt Bacharach, Kander and Ebb, Comden and Green, and many more. 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, Lucille Lortel Award and Jujamcyn Theaters Award.

PURLIE Performance Schedule:
Thursday, March 31, 8:00 p.m.
Friday, April 1, 8:00 p.m.
Saturday, April 2, 2:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m.
Sunday, April 3, 6:30 p.m.

Tickets for the 2005 ENCORES! season are available at the New York City Center Box Office (West 55th Street between 6th and 7th Avenues), through CityTix® at 212-581-1212, or online at www.nycitycenter.org. Tickets for the Orchestra, Grand Tier and mid-Mezzanine are $90, tickets for the rear mezzanine and front gallery are $50, tickets for the rear gallery are $25.