The cast of Harmony made some beautiful music September 27, as they gave a sneak peak of the show. Watch the video above as the cast sing five songs from the new musical: "Harmony," "Every Single Day," "Hungarian Rhapsody," "Where You Go," and "Stars in the Night." Come for the impressive choreography of "Hungarian Rhapsody" (with some chair acrobatics), stay for the stirring a cappella harmonies of "Stars in the Night."
Harmony—featuring music by Barry Manilow and lyrics and a book by Bruce 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 Broadway cast album digitally released August 31.
Leading the cast are Chip Zien, Sierra Boggess, Julie Benko, Sean Bell, Danny Kornfeld, Zal Owen, Eric Peters, Blake Roman, Steven Telsey, Allison Semmes, and Andrew O’Shanick. See photos of the cast and creative team of Harmony below as they met the press.
Tony Award winner Warren Carlyle (The Music Man; Hello, Dolly!) will direct and choreograph the musical, which played an acclaimed Off-Broadway engagement at National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene last year.
READ: After 3 Decades, Barry Manilow and Bruce Sussman's Harmony Is Finally on Broadway
Rounding out the company will be Zak Edwards, Dan Hoy, Bruce Landry, RhonniRose Mantilla, Daniel Z. Miller, Benjamin H. Moore, Matthew Mucha, Constantine Pappas, Kayleen Seidl, Kyla Stone, Bronwyn Tarboton, Kate Wesler, Stuart Zagnit, and Lee Zarrett.
The upcoming production will also have scenic design by Beowulf Boritt, costume design by Linda Cho and Ricky Lurie, lighting design by Jules Fisher + Peggy Eisenhauer, sound design by Dan Moses Schreier, media design by batwin + robin productions, hair and wig design by Tom Watson, casting by Jamibeth Margolis, associate direction and choreography by Sara Edwards, music direction by John O’Neill, music coordination by Michael Aarons, orchestrations by Doug Walter, and production stage management by Scott Taylor Rollison.
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 critically acclaimed. It was nominated for Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, and Lucille Lortel Awards. It won the Best New Musical Award from the Off-Broadway Alliance.
Manilow also recorded songs from the score for his 2004 album Scores: Songs From Copacabana and Harmony.
Visit HarmonyANewMusical.com.
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