The show will pay tribute to Broadway songs written at the eleventh hour.
For the first Lyrics & Lyricists concert of 2016, 92nd Street Y will present a show dedicated to the show tunes that were written at the last minute — that ended up saving the productions they're in. Three-time Tony Award winner Kathleen Marshall (Anything Goes) will serve as director, writer, and host of the show, titled A Funny Thing Happened: Songs From the Road to Broadway.
The concert will reveal the stories behind "Comedy Tonight" and other eleventh-hour songs penned out of town, which would go on to save the shows they're in and become Broadway's biggest hits in the process. The song list is expected to include "Comedy Tonight" from A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, "I'll Never Fall in Love Again" from Promises, Promises, "The Wizard and I" from Wicked, and many others.
The concert's cast will be made up of Broadway vets Ann Harada (Cinderella), Darius de Haas (Shuffle Along), Greg Hildreth (Cinderella), Elena Shaddow (The Bridges of Madison County), Betsy Wolfe (Bullets Over Broadway), and Aaron C. Finley (It Shoulda Been You). The band includes Steve Kenyon, Brian Pareschi, Neal Caine, and Paul Pizzuti. David Chase serves as musical director, with David Eggers as associate director.
The show will run January 9-11 at the Kaufman Concert Hall.