Theater News

Wonderful Town, Babes in Arms, and More Set for Musicals Tonight 2015-16 Season

Musicals Tonight is dedicated to reviving “neglected” shows and making them accessible to all audiences.

Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney in the film version of Babes in Arms.
Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney in the film version of Babes in Arms.

Musicals Tonight, a not-for-profit theater company in New York City dedicated to the revival of "neglected" musicals as staged concerts, has announced its 2015-16 season.

The upcoming season will include Oh, Kay!, with music by George Gershwin, lyrics by Ira Gershwin, and a book by Guy Bolton and P.G. Wodehouse. The plot revolves around the adventures of the Duke of Durham, his sister, Lady Kay, and an English bootlegger. It will also feature Golden Boy, with a book by Clifford Odets and William Gibson, lyrics by Lee Adams, and music by Charles Strouse. It is based on the 1937 play of the same name by Odets, and tells of Joe Wellington, a young man from Harlem who, despite his family's objections, turns to prizefighting. The third offering will be Babes in Arms, with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Lorenz Hart, and a book by Rodgers and Hart. It concerns a group of small-town teenagers.

Later, the company will present Out of This World, with lyrics by Cole Porter and a book by Dwight Taylor and Reginald Lawrence. The comedy follows Roman gods Mercury and Jupiter, who are in search of some entertainment of the human kind. The season's final offering will be Wonderful Town, with a book by Joseph A. Fields and Jerome Chodorov, lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green, and music by Leonard Bernstein. The basis for the work is a collection of autobiographical short stories by Ruth McKenney published in the New Yorker about living in Greenwich Village.

Founded in 1997, Musicals Tonight has revived over 75 musicals in staged concert form. All Musicals Tonight performances take place at the Lion Theatre at Theatre Row.