"This season is exciting because it celebrates many significant milestones, including our 45th anniversary, our 100th Mufti production and our 10th NEO series," stated James Morgan, producing artistic director at the York. "It includes three Mufti productions running for two weeks each — a first! — plus two fully-mounted mainstage productions, plus a number of special events including the new musical On the Air, a new game show featuring emerging musical theater writers, two concert celebrations at 54 Below, an spectacular evening in honor of our 100th Mufti, and performances of Once Upon A Mattress by Marymount Manhattan College. Whether you are a returning member or a first timer, we invite you to come celebrate with us!"

The acclaimed Musicals in Mufti series, which offers concert readings of musical theatre gems, will expand to a two-week performance schedule. The series includes a second look at the musicals Big, with book by John Weidman, lyrics by Richard Maltby, Jr. and music by David Shire (Oct. 11-12, Oct. 15-19), A Time for Singing, with book and lyrics by Gerald Freedman and John Morris and music by Morris (Oct. 25-26, Oct. 29-Nov. 2), Saturday Night, with book by Julius J. Epstein and Philip G. Epstein and music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim (Nov. 8-9, Nov. 12-16), and, for one week only, My Favorite Year that has book by Joseph Dougherty, lyrics by Lynn Ahrens and music by Stephen Flaherty (Dec. 5-7).

Texas in Paris, a world-premiere musical play by Alan Govenar with spirituals, cowboy songs and country hymns, will star Tony Award winner Lillias White. Performances are scheduled for Jan. 27-March 1, 2015.

The long-awaited New York premiere of Harold and Maude, based on the cult film by Colin Higgins, will be offered May 12-June 14. The intimate musical has book and lyrics by Tom Jones and music by Joseph Thalken.

Special events throughout the season include the annual Oscar Hammerstein Award Gala, which will honor Tony Award-winning composers Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty (Nov. 24, 2014); a 100th Mufti Concert Celebration (March 16, 2015); the 10th Annual NEO Concert (June 2015); four special performances of Stacy Sullivan’s On the Air: Songs for Marian McPartland (Sept. 26-28, 2014); a new game show, "Tune in Time" (presented on four Tuesdays in October, November and December 2014), and a special five-performance engagement of Once Upon a Mattress presented by Marymount Manhattan College as part of its Rodgers/Guettel Festival (March 27-29, 2015). The York will travel across town for two 45 at 54 concerts at 54 Below (254 West 54th Street), on Oct. 13 and Jan. 19, 2015.

York Memberships can be purchased online at www.yorktheatre.org/membership, or by visiting the York Theatre Company Box Office (Citicorp Building, entrance on East 54th Street, just east of Lexington Avenue), or by calling the Box Office at (212) 935-5820. For additional information visit the website at www.yorktheatre.org.

Season details follow:

SPECIAL EVENTS

Sept. 6 at 7:30 PM
Sept. 7 at 2:30 PM
The Gift of Music
A Father’s Musical Legacy
A Concert Tribute to Cantor and Broadway Performer Larry Gilbert
Written by Stephen Cole
Directed by Pamela Hunt
Music Direction by Michael Rice
Narrated by Steven Goldberg and Robert Goldberg
Featuring George Dvorsky, Marcie Henderson and Quinn Lemley

"York Board Member Robert Goldberg and his brother Steven Goldberg present this intimate telling of their father's Broadway and liturgical career presented in an evening of songs from Milk and Honey, Closer Than Ever, Paint Your Wagon, Enter Laughing, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, and more.

Sept. 26 – 28, 2014
On the Air: Songs for Marian McPartland
with Stacy Sullivan and Jon Weber  (on piano)

"When Marian McPartland died on August 31, 2013 at the age of 95, she left a bereaved public a legacy of untold musical wealth. Who best to communicate Marian McPartland’s astounding legacy than Stacy Sullivan, award-winning international vocalist and radio personality, and piano wizard Jon Weber, who succeeded Marian as Piano Jazz host. These combined talents do Marian proud with a polished review of the Grande Dame’s life and music, interwoven with favorites from the American Songbook."

Tune in Time
Tuesday nights: Oct. 14, Oct. 28, Nov. 11, Dec. 2
A new game show featuring emerging musical theater writers

"York Theatre Company partners with producers Amy Engelhardt and Heather Shields to present a new musical theater game show called Tune in Time that pairs emerging writers who have never worked together before and challenges them to write a song for a new musical that the audience has helped name - all in 20 minutes. Celebrity judges help pick a winner."

Sept. 30, 2014
Don Pippin: a Maestro’s Memoirs

"After 50 years’ association with Broadway Musicals, and as guest conductor with major symphony orchestras, Don Pippin is sharing his 'inside' stories in a performance that wows with its spectacular combination of music, narrative and visuals that captures the defining moments in his life and career."

Oct. 13, 2014
Jan. 19, 2015
‘45 at 54’ Concert Celebrations at 54 Below
54 Below
(254 West 54th Street)
"If you are a York fan, or musical theater buff, you will want to experience the breadth and range of the York’s longtime affair with the American musical."

MUSICALS IN MUFTI SERIES

Oct. 11-12, Oct. 15-19, 2014
Big
Book by John Weidman
Lyrics by Richard Maltby, Jr.
Music by David Shire
"Josh Baskin is just like any other angst-ridden teenager—he can’t wait to grow up. Too bad you have to get through adolescence first. But when Josh makes a wish to be 'big' at a carnival and wakes up the next morning in the body of a 30-year-old man, he learns how complicated adulthood can be."

Oct. 25-26, Oct. 29-Nov. 2, 2014
A Time for Singing
Book & Lyrics by Gerald Freedman and John Morris
Music by John Morris
Based on "How Green Was My Valley" by Richard Llewellyn
"A Time For Singing, based on Richard Llewellyn’s classic novel 'How Green Was My Valley' (also the basis for John Ford’s 1941 Oscar winning Best Picture), transports us to a Victorian era Welch coal mining community, examining their lives, loves, joys and struggles. Virtually unheard since its brief run during a NY newspaper strike of 1966, it’s a tapestry of choral riches and operatic grandeur."

Nov. 8-9, Nov. 12-16, 2014
Saturday Night
Book by Julius J. Epstein and Philip G. Epstein
Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
"Unlike his buddies, Gene isn’t satisfied with life in Brooklyn—no, he’s meant for bigger things. After crashing a society party and meeting a fabulous southern dame (also a crasher), he comes up with a scheme to get rich quick on the market, and this plan can’t fail...can it? Sondheim’s first professional musical, Saturday Night, unseen for decades after its writing, makes its first return to New York since its premiere in 2000."

Dec. 5-7, 2014
My Favorite Year
Book by Joseph Dougherty
Lyrics by Lynn Ahrens
Music by Stephen Flaherty
"After landing his dream job as an assistant on 1954’s 'King Kaiser Comedy Hour,' young Benjy Stone is pressed into service as caretaker for movie star Alan Swann. Their adventures take them from the TV studio to Benjy’s family home to a wild night on the town, and—just maybe—to a few life lessons."

MAINSTAGE PRODUCTIONS
Jan. 27-March 1, 2015
World Premiere
Texas in Paris
a musical play
Written by Alan Govenar
with Spirituals, Cowboy Songs and Country Hymns
Starring Tony Award winner Lillias White.

"York continues to push the boundaries of musical theatre. Based on true event, Texas in Paris is the musical journey of a man and a woman — one white, one black – invited to France to perform at the Maison des Cultures du Monde. They have never met, have no professional singing experience, and face the challenge of working together and co-existing in an unfamiliar world. Apprehensive of each other, they struggle with preconceptions but forge a surprising spiritual bond that transforms their on-stage performance and their lives."

May 12-June 14, 2015
New York Premiere
Harold and Maude
an intimate musical
Book & Lyrics by Tom Jones
Music by Joseph Thalken
Based on the Film by Colin Higgins

"The musical adaptation of the 1971 cult-classic film 'Harold and Maude' comes to life on the York stage in a new version by Jones and Thalken. In what some call the quintessential May-December romance, death, obsessed teenager, Harold, meets Maude, 79, at a funeral and thus begins one of the funniest and most unusual, yet truly touching romantic sagas in American pop-culture history."

SPECIAL ENGAGEMENT
March 27-29, 2015
Once Upon a Mattress
Book by Jay Thompson, Marshall Barer and Dean Fuller
Lyrics by Marshall Barer
Music by Mary Rodgers
Produced by Marymount Manhattan College as part of its Rodgers/Guettel Festival
"If you thought you knew the story of 'The Princess and The Pea,' you may be in for a walloping surprise. Carried on the wave of wonderful songs, by turn hilarious and raucous, romantic and melodic, this rollicking spin on the familiar classic of royal courtship and comeuppance provides side-splitting shenanigans. Chances are you’ll never look at fairy tales quite the same way again."