Raul Esparza To Star In Encores! Anyone Can Whistle

Raul Esparza (Broadway's revivals of Speed-the-Plow, The Homecoming, and Company) will star in the upcoming Encores! staging of the famous Broadway flop Anyone Can Whistle. He, Donna Murphy (Wonderful Town, Passion), and Sutton Foster (Broadway credits include Young Frankenstein and Thoroughly Modern Millie) will make up the satirical musical's trio of leads, and they will be joined by Edward Hibbert, John Ellison Conlee, and Jeff Blumenkrantz. Anyone Can Whistle, which was written by Arthur Laurents and Stephen Sondheim (whose more notable collaborations include the classic Broadway musicals West Side Story and Gypsy), debuted on Broadway in 1964 in a production starring Harry Guardino, Lee Remick, and Angela Lansbury. The show only played nine performances before closing.

It's the End of the Yellow Brick Road For The Wiz

The City Center Encores! Summer Stars production of The Wiz, starring R&B artist Ashanti, ends its limited run at City Center today. Directed by Thomas Kail and choreographed by Andy Blankenbuehler (both of In the Heights), the production also starred LaChanze and Orlando Jones. The Wiz is a soulful, modern retelling of The Wizard of Oz, which originally played Broadway in 1974 and won several Tonys. The book is by William F. Brown (based on the L. Frank Baum story), and music and lyrics are by Charlie Smalls.

Encores, Off-Broadway Style

New York Theatre Workshop, the venerable downtown theater company that launched Broadway sensation Rent, has announced plans to create a new concert series that revives Off-Broadway musicals. Similar to the popular City Center series Encores!, which features lesser-known Broadway musicals of the past, the NYTW concerts would be minimally-staged productions that bring older Off-Broadway -- and probably Off-Off Broadway and regional -- shows to new audiences.