City Center’s Encores! series may be exploring Off Broadway this summer, but Broadway talent is coming along for the ride. Tony winner Anika Noni Rose and nominees Raul Esparza, Judy Kuhn, Danny Burstein and Da’Vine Joy Randolph are among those starring in “The Cradle Will Rock,†the inaugural show in the new Encores! Off-Center series. The production, directed by Sam Gold, will run July 10 to 13.
First developed in 1937 with funds from the Federal Theater Project, a branch of the Works Progress Administration, “Cradle Will Rock†features music, lyrics and book by Marc Blitzstein. The original production, directed by Orson Welles, was shut down four days before opening - many believed because of the show’s pro-union themes â€" though it eventually played both on and Off Broadway, and was immortalized in a 1999 Tim Robbins movie.
The Encores! Off-Center cast will also include Eisa Davis, Peter Friedman, Martin Moran and Henry Stram.
