Lady in the Dark

Once a groundbreaking experiment by bright voices in the American and European theater, now a cult classic, Lady in the Dark has not been seen in New York since it was presented as part of the inaugural Encores! season in 1994. Considered startlingly avant-garde in 1941 for both its structure and content, this probing psychological thriller examines the impossible contortions the human mind goes through to "have it all." Unfulfilled in both her personal and professional life - and obsessed with an enchanting tune she can’t quite finish - the eponymous lady finds her way onto the psychoanalytic couch. Kurt Weill’s arresting score, with dazzling lyrics by Ira Gershwin, dissects her psyche in extended interludes that collide her neurotic real life with glamorous dreamscapes in which she works out her conflicting desires. By the end, she just may find her way out of the dark.