Ebersole, Leavel, O’Donnell et al. to Participate in Encores! 2008 Season

Christine Ebersole, Beth Leavel, and Rosie O’Donnell will be among the participants in New York City Center’s 15th Anniversary Encores! season, which will kick off in February.

Ebersole will star in Applause (February 7-10). The musical features music by Charles Strouse, lyrics by Lee Adams, and a book by Betty Comden and Adolph Green, based on the film All About Eve and the original story by Mary Orr. Ebersole won Tony Awards for her performances in Grey Gardens (which closes this weekend) and 42nd Street, and was Tony nominated for Dinner at Eight. Other Broadway credits include Steel Magnolias, Gore Vidal’s The Best Man, and Camelot.

Next up will be will be Joseph Stein and Marc Blitzstein’s rarely seen Juno (March 27-30), to be directed by Garry Hynes, who won a Tony Award for her direction of The Beauty Queen of Leenane, and was nominated for a Tony for her work on The Lonesome West. She has also directed Broadway productions of Translations and Sixteen Wounded.

The last Encores! production of the season will be No, No, Nanette (May 8-12), which will star Leavel and O’Donnell, and be directed by Walter Bobbie. The show will use the 1971 version of the musical, featuring a book adapted by Burt Shevelove (original book is by Otto Harbach and Frank Mandel) with the original music by Vincent Youmans and lyrics by Irving Caesar and Harbach.

Leavel won Tony and Drama Desk Awards for her portrayal of the title character in The Drowsy Chaperone. Other Broadway credits include 42nd Street, The Civil War, Show Boat, and Crazy for You. O’Donnell’s Broadway credits include Grease, Seussical, and Fiddler on the Roof. She was also the producer for the 2003 Broadway production of Taboo. O’Donnell is well known as host of The Rosie O’Donnell Show, and more recently as the controversial co-host of The View. Bobbie won a Tony for his direction of the long-running Chicago revival, and has directed several other Broadway shows including High Fidelity, Sweet Charity, and Footloose.

For more information, visit www.nycitycenter.org.