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New York City Center today announced principal casting for Encores! Dear World (March 15 – 19), music and lyrics by Jerry Herman, book by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee. Joining previously announced Donna Murphy as Countess Aurelia are Brooks Ashmanskas (President), Andréa Burns (Constance), Christopher Fitzgerald (Sewerman), Ann Harada (Gabrielle), Kody Jauron (Artiste), Phillip Johnson Richardson (Julian), Samantha Williams (Nina). Complete casting for Dear World will be announced at a later date.
With its premiere in 1969, Dear World made Jerry Herman the first composer-lyricist in history to have three shows running simultaneously on Broadway, each centered around a uniquely larger-than-life leading lady. A true hidden gem of the Broadway canon, this madcap fable follows a motley band of outcasts who must rally together to save their picturesque neighborhood in Paris from a greedy cabal of oil-hungry bankers. Two-time Tony winner Donna Murphy takes on the story’s lovable heroine Countess Aurelia, performing some of Herman’s sweetest and most sumptuous songs, including “I Don’t Want to Know,” “Kiss Her Now,” and “Each Tomorrow Morning.” This madcap romp is directed and choreographed by Josh Rhodes, who helmed Herman’s Mack & Mabel (2019 Encores!), with new Encores! Music Director Mary-Mitchell Campbell leading The Encores! Orchestra.
Dear World opens the 2023 Encores! season which includes a special two-week run of Lionel Bart’s Oliver! May 3 – 14 and The Light in the Piazza starring Ruthie Ann Miles from June 21 – 25.
Tickets starting at $35 can be purchased online at NYCityCenter.org, by calling 212.581.1212, or in person at the City Center Box Office. Access City Center Club is available to those 35 years of age and under and offers a limited number of $25 tickets (plus a $3 facility fee and no handling fees) to City Center productions. For more information and to sign up, visit NYCityCenter.org/AccessClub. New York City Center is located at 131 W 55th St between Sixth and Seventh avenues.