BY KASEY NOSS | Barry Manilow fans won’t want to miss his latest venture, coming this fall not to Radio City or Madison Square Garden, but to Broadway.
After more than two decades touring theaters across the country, “Harmony,” a musical with an original score by Manilow, is finally coming to Broadway. It’s set to open Nov. 13 at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre in Midtown.
In addition to Manilow, the musical’s creative team boasts Tony winner Warren Carlyle (“The Music Man,” “Hello, Dolly!”) as director and choreographer and Drama Desk Award winner Bruce Sussman as writer of the book and lyrics. Sierra Boggess (“The Phantom of the Opera,” “School of Rock,” “The Little Mermaid”) and Chip Zien (“Falsettos,” “Into the Woods”) will be reprising their Off Broadway roles as Mary and Rabbi, respectively. Julie Benko (“Funny Girl”) has also joined the company as Ruth.
According to the musical’s official Web site, Manilow considers “Harmony” to be “the most rewarding creative experience of his career.”
After stints everywhere from San Diego to Atlanta to Los Angeles, “Harmony” finally arrived in New York last year, playing from April 13 through May 15, 2022, in Lower Manhattan at the Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust. The show’s sold-out, award-winning Off Broadway run was presented by the National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene.
Pat Flicker Addiss, a Union Square area-based producer and Tony winner, saw the Folksbiene’s production and “fell in love with it.” She has since joined the “Harmony” team as a producer, helping finance and promote the musical.
“It was wonderful, and the music was terrific,” Addiss said. “You come out of the theater and feel like you’ve really seen something.”
“Harmony” tells the untold, true story of the Comedian Harmonists, a musical comedy group comprised of both Jews and non-Jews from Berlin who rocketed to international fame in the 1920s and ’30s. The musical chronicles their remarkable journey, set against the dark backdrop of the Nazi Party’s simultaneous rise to power in Germany.
“Harmony” is especially poignant at a time when anti-Semitism has once again been on the rise not only in the United States, but around the world.
“It’s such a big anti-Semitic time right now, that I think it’s also a very important show,” Addiss said. “But it’s also so wonderful.”
Adiss is just one of a large roster of producers on the show. “Harmony” is co-produced by Ken Davenport and Sandi Moran with Garry Kief, Amuse, Inc., Susan DuBow, Mapleseed Productions, Michelle Kaplan and Neil Gooding Productions, in association with Wilfried Rimensberger and Stiletto Entertainment. Miranda Gohh is associate producer.
Previews of “Harmony” at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre begin Oct, 18. For more information and to buy tickets, visit harmonyanewmusical.com. You can listen to a preview of the musical’s title track,“Harmony,” at harmonyanewmusical.com/music.
Be First to Comment