The Heiress Photos - Broadway

THE HEIRESS, Ruth and Augustus Goetz's 1947 adaptation of Henry James' WASHINGTON SQUARE and currently occupying the Lohrey Stage at Theatre Memphis, has had a long and steady run on stages throughout the world - and why not? Tightly corseted, polite to a fault, and observing proprieties, this intelligently written script captures the essence of the James source material without the convoluted, complex sentences that, alas, repel many readers. As tautly drawn as the material on one of the samplers for which its heroine is noted, when one of the characters punctuates the prevailing politeness with a barbed or telling line of dialogue, it's as if a sharp and jagged blade suddenly ripped through the fabric of the needlework itself. All this play needs for a successful run is a handsome set, period costumes - and four or five gifted players.

Tony Award-winners Philip Bosco, Jim Norton and Ruben Santiago-Hudson, as well as Cheyenne Jackson, Kate Baldwin, and Jeremy Bobb star in Finian's Rainbow, the final production of New York City Center's 2008-09 Encores! season, running from March 26 - 29. Finian's Rainbow has music by Burton Lane, lyrics by E.Y. Harburg and book by E. Y. Harburg and Fred Saidy and will be directed and choreographed by Warren Carlyle with music direction by Rob Berman. The musical will play five performances at City Center (West 55th Street between 6th and 7th Avenues).