Merrily We Roll Along, Pipe Dreams and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes Set for Encores! Season

The 19th season of New York City Center's Encores! has been announced. It will open with Merrily We Roll Along and include Pipe Dreams and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. For the first year, each production will play seven performances. James Lapine (Passion, Into the Woods) will direct Merrily We Roll Along. No casting or other creative team members have been announced for Merrily or the other productions.

Featuring music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and a book by George Furth, Merrily We Roll Along follows the friendship of a group of up-and-coming songwriters. The story is told in reverse chronological order beginning in 1980 and ending in 1955. The musical first opened on Broadway on November 16, 1981 and ran for 16 performances. Lapine directed a reworked version in 1985 at Califorrnia's La Jolla Playhouse. The Encores! presentation will run from February 8 through February 12.

Based on John Steinbeck's novel Sweet Thursday, Rodgers and Hammerstein's Pipe Dreams follows a group of outcasts in a California seaside town yearning for a better life. The musical first opened on Broadway on November 30, 1955 and ran for 246 performances. The show was nominated for nine Tony Awards, including Best Musical. The production will run from March 28 through April 1.

Featuring music by Jules Styne, lyrics by Leo Robin and a book by Anita Loos and Joseph Fields, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes follows blonde bombshell Lorelei Lee as she sets sail on a Europe-bound cruise with her best friend Dorothy. The original production opened on Broadway on December 8, 1949 and ran for 740 performances, featuring classic songs like "Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend" and "Bye, Bye Baby." The musical was adapted for the screen in 1953, starring Marilyn Monroe.