Steven Telsey, Sean Bell, Blake Roman, Danny Kornfeld, Zal Owen, and Eric Peters
Julieta Cervantes
The upcoming Broadway transfer of Barry Manilow and Bruce Sussman's long-gestating musical Harmony has revealed that its six Comedian Harmonists will transfer with the musical from its 2022 Off-Broadway premiere at National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene. The musical is set to begin previews October 18 at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre with opening night November 13. Warren Carlyle is directing and choreographing.
The musical—featuring music by Manilow and lyrics and a book by Sussman—tells the true story of the Comedian Harmonists, an ensemble of six young men in 1920s Germany who took the world by storm with their blend of sophisticated close harmonies and uproarious stage antics, until their inclusion of Jewish singers put them on a collision course with history. The work is partially based on The Comedian Harmonist Archive as curated by the late Dr. Peter Czada.
The musical has had a long road to Broadway. A world premiere staging played California's La Jolla Playhouse in 1997, then directed by David Warren. A pre-Broadway tryout was announced for Philadelphia's Forrest Theatre in 2003, only to be canceled due to financial woes. The musical reemerged in a 2013 co-production at Atlanta's Alliance Theatre and Los Angeles' Center Theatre Group, with Tony Speciale directing. The California run won the LA Drama Critics Circle Award. The Broadway bow is a transfer of the musical's 2022 Off-Broadway run at National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene, which Carlyle also directed and choreographed. The Off-Broadway staging was nominated for Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, and Lucille Lortel Awards.
An Off-Broadway cast album was recorded but has not yet been released. Manilow recorded songs from the score for his 2004 album Scores: Songs From Copacabana and Harmony.
Cast members Fantasia Barrino, Corey Hawkins, Danielle Brooks, Taraji P. Henson, and more came together to celebrate the film in the lead up to its public premiere.
By
Logan Culwell-Block,
Andrew Gans
|
November 29, 2023
Harriet Walter, Isis Hainsworth, Rosalind Eleazar, and Thusitha Jayasundera star in Alice Birch's "radical" adaptation of the Federico García Lorca play.
The musical transports audiences to 1979 West Virginia, where a mayor is attempting to tear down the region's only Jewish temple to build a RadioShack.
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