MasterVoices To Present World Premiere Of New Adaptation Of ‘Lady In The Dark’

By Nicole Kuchta

MasterVoices will conclude its 2018-19 season with the world premiere of a new adaptation of Kurt Weill, Ira Gershwin, and Moss Hart’s musical “Lady in the Dark.” Performances will be held at New York City Center on Apr. 25-27, 2019 as part of the venue’s 75th anniversary season.

The musical, directed and conducted by MasterVoices Artistic Director Ted Sperling, will star Tony Award-winner Victoria Clark as Liza Elliot. Rounding out the cast are Amy Irving as Dr. Brooks, Ashley Park as Miss Foster / Sutton, Montego Glover as Maggie Grant, David Pittu as Russel Paxton, Christopher Innvar as Charley Johnson, Ben Davis as Randy Curtis, and Ron Raines as Kendall Nesbitt. They will be joined by MasterVoices’ 120 singers, Orchestra of St. Lukes, and Doug Varone and Dancers.

According to the press release, the music will be performed in its entirety, with a script edited for this presentation by Christopher Hart and Kim Kowalke. Dance will become an important element, with dancers acting out Liza’s thoughts, which will be sung by the chorus.

The artistic team, tasked with creating a lush and extravagant production, includes scenic designer Doug Fitch, lighting designer James Ingalls, sound designer Scott Lehrer, and costume designer Tracy Christensen. Christensen will design costumes for the real-life scenes, and MasterVoices will collaborate with designers Zac Posen, Carolina Herrera, and Thom Browne for the “surreal Glamour, Wedding, and Circus dream sequences for which the revolutionary Broadway musical is known.”

Sperling says of the upcoming production: “This is a rare chance to experience this groundbreaking work in all its musical glory. Like almost all shows of the golden age, ‘Lady in the Dark’ is built on period expectations of how men and women are supposed to fit into society. But I think the authors were quite forward-thinking, and I admire their choice to center the show on a woman in charge who is trying to find the right balance in her life, as so many of us—both men and women—are today.”

 

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